"Wabbit" Season

Steven Spielberg's next directing project will be a new big screen adaptation of "Harvey", Mary Coyle Chase's Prize-winning 1944 play about a man's friendship with an invisible six-and-a-half foot tall rabbit, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The novelist Jonathan Tropper has already written the new adaptation of the story about Elwood P. Dowd and said imaginary friend. Committed to a sanitarium by his sister to avoid social embarrassment, the sister is accidentally locked up instead and soon the doctors figure out the error and rush to find him. His ramblings about Harvey however have had a positive effect on those around him that when offered a potential cure, the sister declines as she'd rather her brother be who he is.

The story was first adapted for the screen in 1950 with James Stewart in the starring role. It was later adapted into a TV movie starring Harry Anderson and Leslie Nielsen.

No casting has been done as yet, but many industry folk believe that Tom Hanks will almost inevitably be mentioned as one candidate since he's considered a modern-day Jimmy Stewart and has worked with Spielberg on such films as "The Terminal," "Catch Me If You Can" and "Saving Private Ryan."

Fox and Dreamworks will co-produce the project. "I am very happy to be working again with my friend Tom Rothman who shepherded us through Minority Report, and with Elizabeth Gabler and Carla Hacken who I'm looking forward to collaborating with." Spielberg said

The filmmaker has several projects in development such as the "'Oldboy" remake, the sci-fi epic "Interstellar", the kiddie books-turned-film "The 39 Clues ", and his long gestating Adventures of Tintin films--Matt Helm all of which are in the early stages of development allowing this pic to move forward quickly.

Pre-production is to begin immediately, with filming set to start very early next year.