Zaillian adapting A Thousand Splendid Suns

I've recently got hold of Steve Zaillian's script for American Gangster which I'm looking forward to actually finding two hours spare to sit down and enjoy it with a cup of Hot Chocolate or something. The nights are getting colder here in the U.K. which obviously means the summer is disappearing but it also means we are due some kick ass serious flicks. But enough of American Gangster. The reason I'm talking about Steve Zaillian is that Variety report he has signed on to write and direct an adaptation of the best selling novel A Thousand Splendid Suns for Columbia Pictures. The book centers on two Muslim women who are married to the same man, who foster a friendship that lasts more than 10 years against the backdrop of war in Afghanistan. There's probably a lot more in the story than that but there's the small jist of it. The book was a huge best seller for Khaled Hosseini and was his follow up to another best selling novel, The Kite Runner which future Bond director Marc Forster has adapted into a film which will open in November. The budget is expected to be around $15 million for the movie which producer Scott Rudin has high hopes for. He bought the book in a big six against seven figure sum back in January and has now hired a semi-big name in the movie industry. Zaillian has worked with the likes of Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese, Sydney Pollack, Brian De Palma and Steven Spielberg as a script writer, and has most recently worked with actors Sean Penn, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Jackie Earle Haley and Mark Ruffalo in his All the King's Men. He has pedigree, no doubt about and he can attract big names, so I would expect an A-List cast on this one. More on American Gangster when I actually find time to read it.