Stephen Daldry to direct 'Extremely Loud'

Stephen Daldry, who has developed a reputation for high-caliber literary adaptations with "The Hours" and "The Reader," is tackling his latest book.

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Daldry is attached to direct "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," the adaptation of the Sept. 11-themed novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Scott Rudin, king of the high-brow adaptations, is producing "Close," which will be a Paramount and Warner Bros. co-production.

The 2005 book centers on Oskar Schell, a nine-year-old amateur inventor, jewelry designer, astrophysicist, tambourine player and pacifist, as he searches New York for the lock that matches a mysterious key left by his father when he was killed in the September 11 attacks. Eric Roth, who last took on "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," penned the adaptation.

Casting the child role will be critical, but CAA-repped Daldry has also established a knack for finding key young talent. The director gave Jamie Bell his feature debut with 2000's "Billy Elliot" and he introduced German actor David Kross to American audiences in "The Reader." Kross was a teen when he played the younger version of Ralph Fiennes in the Holocaust-themed film.