Aloft: According to Variety, screenwriter Steve Conrad has inked a high-six figure deal to pen the adaptation of Chang-Rae Lee's novel "Aloft."Studio bought the rights to the book last December with producer Scott Rudin.

Book is the sprawling tale of an aging baby boomer who must hold together his fractured family. Book, being published by Riverhead Books this spring, was excerpted in the New Yorker.

Conrad most recently wrote The Weather Man for helmer Gore Verbinski, which is currently shooting.