Ron Howard Acquires Anne Rice’s The Tale of the Body Thief

Anne Rice's The Tale of the Body Thief may be heading to the big screen, thanks to Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment. They have acquired rights to the novel and writer Lee Patterson has been tasked with developing the script.

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek, Transformers) are also on board as producers, but it is not known whether Ron Howard will direct the film. Ron Howard currently has a number of projects in various stages of development, including the adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series.

The Tale of the Body Thief is the 4th book in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles, after Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and The Queen of the Damned:

Via THR: "The hook of the Body Thief is that the story concerns body-switching. Lestat, depressed and lonely after centuries as a vampire, decides to transfer souls for a day with a psychic, who after the transfer reveals that he has no intention of switching back. Lestat, now in a human body and with the help of some friends, must track down the man and get his body back."

This project is not set up at a specific studio, similar to the current state of The Dark Tower adaptation, so Imagine Entertainment will need to shop this to a studio after it is further along in development.