2009: Catherine Hardwicke is set to direct the adaptation of Gayle Forman‘s young adult novel If I Stay.  2010: Hardwicke is out, Heitor Dhalia is in as director.  Dakota Fanning enters talks to star as Mia, an accomplished 17-year-old cellist destined for Julliard before a car accident sends her into a coma.  2013: Dhalia and Fanning are no longer on board.  Instead, Chloe Moretz is attached to star and RJ Cutler (Nashville) is in talks to direct his first narrative feature, according to Variety.

The book has a neat hook, using the out-of-body perspective and recollections of Mia while she’s in the coma.  I don’t know if this is the iteration that will push If I Stay out of development, but keep your eye out for more casting announcements soon—particularly the “punk rock boyfriend.”  Read the book synopsis after the jump.

Dakota Fanning is in negotiations so star in Summit’s adaptation of the Gayle Forman young adult novel If I Stay.  Fanning would play Mia, an accomplished 17-year-old cellist destined for Julliard before a car accident sends her into a coma.  The book is told from the out-of-body thoughts and recollections of Mia.

Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) was at one point attached to direct, but she left the project to helm Red Riding Hood instead.  Variety reports that Brazilian director Heitor Dhalia (Adrift) will assume the reigns; Shauna Cross (Whip It) scripted the adaptation.  Click here for our interview with Cross where she discusses her take on the material, and hit the jump for a synopsis of the book.

Catherine Hardwicke’s (“Thirteen”, “Twilight”) latest project has now been announced . She will now be directing an adaptation of “The Girl With the Red Riding Hood.” The film will be written by David Johnson (“Orphan”) and will be a gothic retelling of the “Little Red Riding Hood” story, with a teenage love triangle at its center. This is only the latest film to be added to Hardwicke’s growing list of projects. To find out more about what else Hardwicke has coming up, which includes a big screen adaptation of a hit Richard Greico 80s TV series, hit the jump.