Director Michel Hazanavicius is in talks to direct Universal Pictures' adaptation of Erik Larson's nonfiction book In the Garden of Beasts. Natalie Portman is also being eyed for the project.

The film will star Tom Hanks as a Chicago professor, who becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany before the dictator became a threat to the world. On his first trip to Berlin, the professor soaks in the scenery with his daughter Martha (Natalie Portman), who becomes involved with some high ranking members of the Third Reich. Soon after he realizes the evil intentions of the Reich and alerts the State Department only to be met with a cold shoulder.

Tom Hanks is producing with Gary Goetzman. The duo are up for a Emmy for Jay Roach's HBO Game Change, which follows Sarah Palin's journey to becoming a Vice Presidential candidate.