Angelina Jolie is heading to the top shelf for her next directorial effort.  Jolie signed on to helm Universal’s adaptation of author Laura Hillenbrand’s non-fiction bestseller Unbroken in December, and after a prolonged search to put a writer on the project, Jolie has roped in none other than Joel and Ethan Coen to rewrite the script.  The book tells the incredible true story of Louis Zamperini, a former Olympian and WWII bombardier whose plane crashed at sea in 1943.  Zamperini and two crewmates floated adrift for 47 days and 2000 miles, eventually finding themselves caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a POW camp where Zamperini was targeted by a sadistic overseer.

Hit the jump for more, including a full synopsis for the book.

A feature film adaptation of author Laura Hillenbrand’s non-fiction bestseller Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption has been a coveted property essentially since the book hit shelves, and now it looks like the pic may finally be moving forward.  Universal Pictures acquired the book rights back in January of 2011 for Francis Lawrence to direct and Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) set to write the script.  The studio subsequently brought on Richard LaGravenese (P.S. I Love You) to take over scripting duties the following March, but movement has been quiet ever since.

The book tells the incredible true story of Louis Zamperini, a former Olympian and WWII bombardier whose plane crashed at sea in 1943.  Zamperini and two crewmates floated adrift for 47 days and 2000 miles, eventually finding themselves caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a POW camp where Zamperini was targeted by a sadistic overseer.  The project has now gained some strong momentum, as Angelina Jolie is being targeted to take the helm.  Hit the jump for more.

Universal Pictures has hired Richard LaGravenese (P.S. I Love You) to adapt the Laura Hillenbrand bestseller Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.  Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) is attached to direct, and last we checked, Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) was in talks to write the script.  Deadline’s report doesn’t mention how it went down, but Lawrence and LaGravenese have established a prior working relationship: they teamed for the adaptation of Water for Elephants, which hits theaters April 22.

Unbroken tells the story of Louis Zamperini, a former Olympian and WWII bombadier whose plane crashed at sea in 1943.  Zamperini and two crewmates floated adrift for 47 days and 2000 miles — he was caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a POW camp where he was specifically targeted by a sadistic overseer.  Read the full book synopsis after the break:

Universal Pictures has picked up the rights to Laura Hillenbrand’s bestselling non-fiction novel Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.  According to Deadline, the studio is in talks with Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) to direct and Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper to pen the script.  Universal also produced the adaptation of Hillenbrand’s previous book, Seabiscuit, and picked up $148 million worldwide plus seven Oscar nominations as a result.

Unbroken centers on Louis Zamperini, a former Olympian whose plane crashed at sea during World War II.  Zamperini and two crewmates floated adrift for 47 days and 2000 miles, he was caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a POW camp where he was specifically targeted by a sadistic overseer.  Hit the jump for the synopsis of the book.