Tom Hanks and Tom Tykwer Will Adapt Dave Eggers' 'A Hologram For the King'

Tom Tykwer and Tom Hanks aren't done collaborating on adaptations of acclaimed novels. The last time the two paired up it was alongside the Wachowskis for the ambitious Cloud Atlas. The result was one of last year's biggest box office disappointments, as the material proved a little too "out there" to hook audiences. Now the duo are trading in high concept, new age sci-fi for a much simpler story by adapting Dave Eggers' book, A Hologram for the King.

Deadline reports that Tykwer will write and direct the film with Hanks starring as a struggling American businessman whose personal and professional life is falling apart, so he heads to Saudi Arabia in hopes of turning things around. It sounds like this is still fairly early on as financing needs to be found, so there's no word yet on when production could begin.

Hanks has been slipping back into the "everyman" mold that audiences prefer to see him in, taking on the lead in Paul Greengrass' Captain Phillips and Disney's Saving Mr. Banks opposite Emma Thompson.