Lotus Entertainment announced today that Ed Gass-Donnelly (Small Town Murder Songs, The Last Exorcism Part II) will write and direct the new sci-fi thriller Pivot. When a scientist's loving wife is killed, he invents a device to Pivot between parallel universes to save her life, but to be with her, he'll have to kill the parallel version of himself. Lotus' Jim Seibel and Bill Johnson will produce the film, with D.J. Gugenheim and Ara Keshishian of Lotus executive producing alongside Ed Gass-Donnelly.

Here's what producers Jim Seibel and Bill Johnson had to say in a joint statement.

"A high-quality concept like Pivot is exactly the type of project we were looking for. Ed has the perfect approach to bring Pivot to life and we are eager to embark on our journey."

Donnelly is known for his hands-on method to film - often serving as director, producer, writer, and editor. He made his feature debut, This Beautiful City, at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007, and was nominated for four Canadian Academy Awards. His sophomore debut, Small Town Murder Songs, premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, which also landed him a spot on Variety's coveted "10 Directors to Watch" list in 2011.

ICM and Jennifer Levine at Untitled represent Donnelly and brokered the deal. Gugenheim will oversee the project for Lotus Entertainment, who will also handle international sales.

Lotus Entertainment's current slate includes: Tom Tykwer's A Hologram for the King starring Tom Hanks; Kidnap starring Academy Award winner Halle Berry; Scott Hicks' Fallen based on the best-selling YA novel; Henry Hobson's Maggie with Arnold Schwarzenegger; Craig Zobel's Z for Zachariah with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Chris Pine; Stephen Gaghan's The Candy Store; and Song One starring Anne Hathaway.