Paramount Pictures has acquired screen rights to “The Bridge,” a novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Doug Marlette that will be developed by De Line Pictures and C/W Prods. as a potential starring vehicle for Tom Cruise. The book will be adapted by Mark Andrus, who was Oscar-nominated for scripting “As Good as It Gets.”
The project was brought in by producer Donald De Line, who has reupped his deal at the studio and just got a greenlight on “The Italian Job,” a remake of the 1969 heist pic that starred Michael Caine. The most recent draft of that script, which takes place in L.A. and Europe, was by Donna and Wayne Powers, and the studio is trying to land a high-profile director in order to start production by the summer.
“The Bridge” revolves around a cartoonist, fired from his Gotham newspaper gig, who relocates his family to the North Carolina house in which he grew up and tries to come to terms with his past and family.
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Marlette’s novel was published by HarperCollins.
The movie pact was made by ICM.
De Line Pictures exec Wendy Japhet brought it in, and De Line enlisted C/W partners Paula Wagner and Cruise. The actor has made no commitment to star in it, but approved the writer.
