Writer/director Andrew Niccol (Gattaca) has a few projects in development, and it looks like the sci-fi thriller I'm.mortal just made it's first major step from the page to the screen.  It-girl Amanda Seyfried has signed on to star as a member of a society where no one ages beyond 25, meaning the cast will be fraught with pretty young twentysomethings. The script pairs her with a romantic lead, who has yet to been cast.

Hit the jump for further details on the plot, as well updates on the other projects that have ensnared Seyfried and Niccol.

Variety provides this plot outline:

Time has become the currency. The rich are immortal, while the rest struggle to stay alive.

When a rebel from the ghetto is falsely accused of murdering a wealthy man for his time, he is forced to go on the run with beautiful hostage (Seyfried).  Together, this duo rages against the system, living minute to minute.  They discover that love is more powerful than all the time in the world.

With a filmography that includes Gattaca, The Truman Show, S1m0ne, you can always count on Niccol for an interesting idea, even if the execution fails to crackle: the fictional universe of I'm.mortal seems to be no exception.  And if I were a casting director looking for a female lead in her mid-20s, I think Seyfried would top my list as well.

Prior to I'm.mortal, Seyfried will star in Catherine Hardwicke's Gothic fairy tale reimagining Red Riding Hood (set for March 11, 2011), as well as the period drama Albert Nobbs for director Rodrigo Garcia.  At the same time, she has been rumored for the lead in Disney's live-action Cinderella and mentioned in connection with McG's adaptation of the Rolling Stone article "The Girl Who Conned the Ivy League."

On Niccol's slate, the likewise future-set The Cross appears to be the furthest along in production, with Orlando Bloom, Vincent Cassel, and Olga Kurylenko set to star.  Niccol has also signed on to adapt The Host, an tale of "well-meaning alien parasites" from Twilight author Stephanie Meyer.  Meanwhile, his fantasy script The City That Sailed may be the vehicle that reunites I Am Legend collaborators Will Smith and Francis Lawrence.