Ron Howard to assemble Ludlum's 'Parsifal Mosaic'

By Sarah Sluis

Universal's looking for its next Bourne Identity, and it's chosen Ron Howard to lead the way. The Parsifal Mosiac, which is considered one of Robert Ludlum's best books, alongside The Bourne Identity, will be helmed by the Oscar winner. The globe-trotting espionage thriller centers on a man who sees his spy lover executed for being a double agent. The traumatic event makes him consider retirement, but then he encounters the woman, who wasn't really dead, in a chance meeting, setting off the typical twists and turns as he tries to get to the center of the intrigue. The international setting and intricate plot bring to mind Howard's earlier work on Dan Brown's two books, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. While both have been successes, particularly at the international box office (each earned about 70% of their gross abroad), they haven't been a sensation with domestic audiences. Perhaps the twists and turns seem more opaque when they're subtitled. Universal is hurting right now, so green-lighting a project from an author that has proven cinematic material, and bringing aboard a director who has successfully adapted a bestselling book seems appropriately risk-averse.

From the romantic comedy world, Jennifer Aniston signed on to Pumas, presumably a spin on the term "cougars," which refers to older women who "prey" on young men. She will play a thirty-something woman (Aniston herself is 40) who, along with a friend, has made a habit of dating young men. When they go on a ski trip, they run into a situation that "challenges their romantic expectations." My instinct is that this involves falling for an older man, which would be refreshing in that this would be portrayed as abnormal, as opposed to the usual May-December Hollywood age pairings (e.g. Six Days, Seven Nights). The screenwriter, Melissa Stack, found a place on 2007's Black List for her script I Want to ____ Your Sister, and, perhaps not coincidentally, the director signed on to the project, Wayne McClammy, gained acclaim for writing and directing the viral comedy short "I'm F------- Matt Damon" and its sequel "I'm F------ Ben Affleck." While this sounds like a fun set-up, I'm afraid it will hew too closely to the romantic comedy formula, in which a ridiculous hang-up (dating only younger guys) prevents someone from finding true love. One romantic comedy I am slightly more excited about is Liars (A-E), a road trip film in which a woman picks up forgotten items from a variety of exes on her way to President Obama's inauguration. While the inauguration inclusion could be a bit too nauseating a connection to young, spritely optimism, espeically a couple of years after it's happened, it's following the romantic comedy trend of focusing on a break-up instead of the initial connection. Emma Forest, recently named one of Variety's 10 screenwriters to watch, penned the screenplay after breaking off a year-long relationship with Colin Farrell. With Scott Rudin producing for Miramax, and Richard Linklater (School of Rock) directing, this looks like a niche romance that could ignite young audiences.