Actor Simon Pegg has closed a deal to star in Hector and the Search for Happiness for The Solution Entertainment Group.

Director Peter Chelsom and Tinker Lindsay are adapting the Francis Lelord novel, which centers on a London psychiatrist, who goes on a global quest when his patients can't find happiness. Here's what co-writer/director Peter Chelsom had to say about the project.

"I've been searching long and hard for a film that would bring me back to my European sensibilities. Not unlike Being There and Forrest Gump, Hector is a contemporary love story, a fable wrapped around a very human hero's journey. Nobody does the innocent abroad better than Simon Pegg: he is not only a brilliant comedian but a very touching actor. He is the Hector that you want to follow to the ends of the earth."

The Solution Entertainment Group is handling the worldwide rights for the project, which is a German/Canadian co-production.