Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer have set “John Adams” helmer Tom Hooper to direct and Christopher Hampton to write East of Eden, an adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel.
Grazer will produce with Grand Illusions Entertainment’s Jonathan Sanger and Ed Albert.
First published in 1952, “East of Eden” is Steinbeck’s retelling of the Cain and Abel story, set in California’s Salinas Valley. The multigenerational story focuses on the Trask brothers and a woman who comes between the siblings.
The studio hopes to put the film in production later this year.
