Bain - stand by for the magazine, book and even film deal

Jor Karam says David Bain (L) could be played by Nicolas Cage. Photos / Simon Baker, AP

David Bain could sell his story for up to $50,000 say experts - but his long-time campaigner Joe Karam is in a Hollywood state of mind.

A light-hearted Karam - setting aside the controversies of the so-called evidence the Bain jury didn't hear and the stress of the 13-week retrial - jokingly suggests Nicolas Cage could play David in a movie while Danny DeVito could play himself.

"If I said someone who was very handsome everyone would call me arrogant, so what can I say, really?" laughed Karam.

On the suggestion of Al Pacino, he said "I'll let you speculate", while Dustin Hoffman and he "do have a Nasal similarity!".

He thought Cage would be okay for Bain.

"You can easily do something with the hair and maybe bend his ears out a bit, dampen down the colour of his skin."

Film industry sources say a Bain movie is inevitable and would follow similar films about the Aramoana massacre, and the wrongful imprisonments of Arthur Allan Thomas and David Dougherty.

A new book is also likely, with Random House confirming in March it was involved in initial discussions, along with other publishing firms who were vying for the rights.

Karam refused to confirm whether a book was in the pipeline but said he had been approached by media organisations from around the world about being the first to have an in-depth interview with Bain.

Former women's magazine editor Wendyl Nissen said the Bain story could fetch up to $50,000, perhaps on a three-story basis across two years.

"Maybe he will meet someone, then get married, then have a baby, but I just don't think there is big money, not in the magazines."

She said there was no money with television but he might get $60,000 for a book deal. "But then you still have to hire a ghostwriter on top of that. I mean you have to do the numbers; how many would it sell?

"The other premise of any other good women's magazine story is that you always have to leave the readers with a happy ending. There is no happy ending for him at the moment, so if I was a women's magazine editor I would be holding off and I would be waiting to see if he has met someone, got married - a romance story."

Both Woman's Weekly acting editor Fiona Fraser and Woman's Day editor Sarah Henry said they had had early discussions with Karam.

Henry doubted the Bain story could fetch as much as $50,000. "David Bain would be a one-hit really unless there was a fabulous love story ... "

For now, Karam is keeping Bain at arm's length from the media.