Jennifer Lawrence will star in the movie version of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, and Hunger Games director Gary Ross will direct. The pair have proved to be a marketable duo with their work on the Hunger Games trilogy, and look to continue that success. Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer will produce.

Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence in Hunger Games: Catching Fire

East of Eden, written by the Nobel Prize-winning author Steinbeck – an American hero of literature – is set in the Salinas California. The story takes place at the dawn of the 20th century through until the end of the First World War. It’s a character drama, exploring themes of success, depravity, guilt and freedom.

The book was first adapted for the cinema by Elia Kazan in 1955. The film starred James Dean, Julia Harris and Richard Davalos and focussed solely on the second half of the book. There was also an eight-episode miniseries from ABC that was faithful to the novel.

Ross’s film is likely to be told over two instalments, Deadline reports. It’s the director’s favourite book, and given the wide scope of the plot – traversing America across two generations – it’s likely to be a double feature, say the ever-reliable film site.

Lawrence is currently riding a dangerously high wave of success. She secured the Oscar for her turn in Silver Linings Playbook, and has returned to work with director David O Russell for American Hustle, in which she also reunited with actor Bradley Cooper, and stars alongside Christian Bale and Amy Adams. The film has generated venerable Oscar buzz, but is set for stiff competition from Monuments Men and Gravity.

You’ll next see Lawrence in Hunger Games: Catching Fire as she reprises her role as Katniss Everdeen in the supremely popular adaptation of the young-adult book franchise. It hits cinemas on November 22 in the U.S and a day before in the U.K.

Hunger Games Catching Fire PosterThe official poster for Hunger Games: Catching Fire