According to The Hollywood Reporter, Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald have optioned the rights to the Richard Matheson novel "Earthbound."

Parkes/MacDonald Productions is partnering up with Imagenation Abu Dhabi, which joined forces with the producers in October to fund development of their feature projects. "Earthbound" is Parkes/MacDonald Productions maiden acquisition done outside of DreamWorks Studios. The producers have a first look deal there.

The book focuses "on a married man who starts an affair with a young stranger, only to realize that she may actually be the ghost of a long-dead woman driven by something much more than earthly passion."

Ronnie Christensen (Passengers) is going to write the screenplay. Some of Matheson's other books that have been turned into movies are I Am Legend and A Stir of Echoes.

"We're excited to have the opportunity to work on one of this extraordinary author's most intimate and suspenseful novels." Offered Parkes.