Elizabeth Banks to Direct and Produce THE GRACE YEAR

Elizabeth Banks is set to direct and produce The Grace Year, which Universal Pictures has optioned film rights to, according to Deadline.

The film is an the adaptation of a novel by Kim Liggett that will be published by Wednesday Books in the fall. Banks and Max Handelman will produce through their Brownstone Productions banner, along with New Leaf Literary & Media's Pouya Shahbazian.

The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in between. The novel has already become an international sensation, selling rights at auction into a number of territories including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia and Hungary.

In addition to the Pitch Perfect franchise, Banks directed, produced co-wrote the upcoming Charlie's Angeles for Sony Pictures. Banks and Handelman recently set the comedy Science Fair at Universal where they have adaptations in the works of Paper Bag Princess and Red Queen, both of which Banks will direct. They also have Queen for a Day at Paramount Players andWhite Girl Problems at Lionsgate.

Banks and Handelman optioned the manuscript of The Grace Year last year under the company's first-look deal with Universal.

Read the original article on Deadline.