The long-in-development feature film adaptation of Lois Lowry’s lauded children’s book The Giver is taking a big step forward.  Variety reports that director Philip Noyce (Salt, Patriot Games) is now in early talks to helm the adaptation for The Weinstein Company, Walden Media, and star Jeff Bridges.  The book concerns a utopian society where all memories of the past reside with a sage figure known as “The Giver”.  When a 12-year-old boy is selected to be the new Giver, he learns of the hypocrisies and hidden truths of his world.  Bridges nabbed the rights to the book 20 years ago with the intention of developing it as a starring vehicle for his father, Lloyd, but now he intends to produce and star.  Hit the jump for more.

Back in 2006, Jeff Bridges and producer Nikki Silver (full disclosure: I briefly worked for Silver in 2005 as a summer intern for her On-Screen Entertainment, but I’m 99% sure she doesn’t remember me at all) came close to adapting Lois Lowry’s Newberry Award-winning young adult novel The Giver.  Fox and Walden Media considered giving a greenlight with House of Sand and Fog director Vadim Perlman at the helm, but in 2007, the rights went over to Warner Bros and the project stalled.  Variety reports that Bridges and Silver have now reclaimed the screen rights and are now attempting to revive the film with Perlman still set to direct.

The book concerns a utopian society where all memories of the past reside with a sage figure known as “The Giver”.  When a 12-year-old boy is selected to be the new Giver, he learns of the hypocrisies and hidden truths of his world.  Bridges originally envisioned that his father Lloyd Bridges would play The Giver, but Lloyd died in 1998 and Bridges now says he feels old enough to play the role himself.  Hit the jump for the novel’s official synopsis.