Jennifer Lawrence must have liked the experience of working with The Hunger Games director Gary Ross so much that she’s signed on to do two movies in a row with him. The two projects will both be literary adaptations - East of Eden and Burial Rites.
Ross is hoping to turn East of Eden, his favorite American novel, into two films, reports Deadline. He wants to cast Lawrence as Cathy Ames, the mother of the two boys at the center of the classic John Steinbeck story. The 1952 novel was turned into a film back in 1955 by Elia Kazan with James Dean.
Universal Studios and Imagine Entertainment first acquired the screen rights in 2004, but that deal lapsed, notes Deadline. So Imagine’s Brian Grazer put together another deal with Ross and Lawrence attached. the details of the project are still being worked on, so it’s not known if Ross plans on writing the script solo. (There’s a good chance that he will take a part in writing - he did write the Hunger Games and Seabiscuit scripts.)
According to TheWrap, Burial Rites would be based on the Hannah Kent about a woman accused of murder in 1829 Iceland. Producer Allison Shearmur and CAA are going to take that project to interested studios next week.
Both of these projects may be a long way off. Ross is working on the Disney/Sony project Peter and the Starcatcher. Lawrence is obviously finishing the final films in the Hunger Games series and other projects. She’ll be seen in Catching Fire in November and in American Hustle in December.
image: NBC