AceShowbiz -

Eyeing to spark another hit after the "Bourne" series, renowned producer Andrew R. Tennenbaum is on his way to develop "Water for Elephants" that turns out to be a big screen adaptation of the Sara Gruen Depression-era circus novel of which film rights he has successfully secured.

The book, published last year in May, centers on a young man named Jacob Jankowski who leaves his life as a Cornell University veterinary student to join a second-rate traveling circus called Benzini Brothers after his parents are killed in an automobile accident. It stayed in New York Times Best Seller list for twelve weeks in 2006 while being nominated for General Fiction slot at the year's Quill Awards also winning the 2007 BookBrowse Award for most popular book.

In bringing the movie version to the surface, Tennenbaum has already appointed Leonard Hartman to pen the script while he himself is set to produce via his Flashpoint Entertainment shingle. The man has chased the novel rights since late last year and used his own money to execute a modest upfront option against a seven-figure purchase price to reach the goal.