Reitman not 'Smoking' for USA

USA Networks is planning a TV version of the indie film Thank You For Smoking, but without the film’s writer/director, Jason Reitman. Reitman is likely to have another hit this December with Fox Searchlight’s Juno, but according to a source close to the situation, Reitman was squeezed out of the Smoking party. Initially, Reitman, producer David Sacks, and others pitched the Smoking TV series to HBO. Sacks ,however, opted for a network deal and took the project to NBC. The show didn’t make it at NBC, but landed at USA Networks, a sister company to NBC. Along the way, Reitman dropped out. Was he pushed? Sacks says that Reitman had first right of refusal, and that Reitman passed. Reitman declined to comment.