Ron Howard is to direct thriller 'The Girl Before'.
The 'Rush' helmer will take on the adaptation of J.P. Delaney's thriller novel of the same name about a traumatised woman who falls in love with a house - and the guy who designed it, Deadline reports.
However, all is not as it seems as when the lady finds out another woman died there three years beforehand and she begins to notice similarities between them.
Universal has acquired the rights to the book before it has even been published.
The novel is set to be released next year and some have speculated that J.P. could in fact be a pseudonym for 'The Death Pit' author Tony Strong.
This comes just a week after Ron revealed he turned down the chance to direct 'Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace' because the project was "too daunting".
Speaking about being approached by George Lucas, who ended up helming the motion picture, Howard explained: "He didn't necessarily want to direct them.
"He told me that he had talked to [Robert] Zemeckis, he talked to me, he talked to Steven Spielberg. I was the third one he spoke to. They all said the same thing, 'George, you should just do it. This is your baby.' Nobody wanted to follow that act I don't think at that point. That was an honor, but it would've been just too daunting."
