First it was developing with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, until they defected to Han Solo. Then Richard Linklater was attached with Jennifer Lawrence set to star, but both dropped out last October. So now it's all change again for The Rosie Project, and this time it's Ryan Reynolds taking an interest.
The Rosie Project is based on the novel by Graeme Simsion (although Simsion actually wrote it as a screenplay before he turned it into a book). It's the story of professor Don Tillman, an on-the-spectrum genetics expert who never seems to be able to land a second date. He starts The Wife Project, working up a questionnaire to find the perfect partner, but is instead entranced by the free-spirited Rosie, who matches none of his criteria but might just be his soul mate.
The book has been a bestseller both here and in Australia where it's set, and a sequel, The Rosie Effect, arrived last year. Days Of Summer writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber wrote the most recent draft of the script, which attracted Lord and Miller before the lure of Star Wars took them in another direction.
Reynolds isn't officially attached at this point, but is reportedly "circling" the project, which is being set up at Sony. He's already ensconced in a big Sony project, heading to Mars with Jake Gyllenhaal in his Safe House director Daniel Espinosa's Life.
While Sony may be keen to keep him in house, however, Reynolds' priority before any Rosie Project-ing will be back at Fox for Deadpool 2. Deadpool is now officially the biggest R-rated movie of all time, so everyone is keen to keep striking while that iron's hot.
The Rosie Project is published in the UK by Penguin.