It looks like Tim Burton may actually be making a film without Johnny Depp in the near future. The Alice in Wonderland director is in the early stages of developing a film version of Victor Hugo’s classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Josh Brolin set to produce and star. Heat Vision reports that the project is in the very early stages, with Burton waiting on a script to officially sign on for the flick.Warner Bros. has tapped Kieran and Michele Mulroney (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) to adapt Hugo’s 1831 novel. Hunchback tells the story of a deformed bell-ringer in Notre Dame who tragically falls in love with a gypsy. Burton has a pretty full plate, as he’s currently prepping Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp, but if he likes the script that comes in he could tackle this next. Brolin recently signed on to Cogan’s Trade with Brad Pitt and is looking to direct and star in Pitz & Joe. Hit the jump for a synopsis of Hugo's novel.Here’s the synopsis for The Hunchback of Notre Dame:

Set in medieval Paris, Victor Hugo’s powerful historical romance The Hunchback of Notre-Dame has resonated with succeeding generations ever since its publication in 1837. It tells the story of the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda, condemned as a witch by the tormented archdeacon Claude Frollo, who lusts after her. Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer of Notre-Dame Cathedral, having fallen in love with the kindhearted Esmeralda, tries to save her by hiding her in the cathedral’s tower. When a crowd of Parisian peasants, misunderstanding Quasimodo’s motives, attacks the church in an attempt to liberate her, the story ends in tragedy (Amazon).