Australian actor Simon Baker (star of The Mentalist on CBS) and American producer Mark Johnson have acquired the rights to Tim Winton's Miles Franklin Award-winning novel, Breath (Picador, $14, 9780312428396/0312428391). Variety reported that "Baker and Johnson will produce together, and Baker plans to play one of the lead roles. They will set a director before setting up funding."
"Winton’s book beautifully captures the excitement and brutality of growing up in a way I’ve only experienced but have never been able to articulate,” Baker said.