Universal falls for 'Gravity,' eyeing Ross

February 02, 2007 Universal Pictures has emerged victorious in another bidding war, this time snapping up the rights to a children's fantasy manuscript titled "Simon Bloom, the Gravity Keeper" as a possible directing vehicle for Gary Ross. Ross and his Larger Than Life partner Allison Thomas will produce the live-action adaptation along with Ellen Goldsmith-Vein of the Gotham Group. Written by first-time novelist Michael Reisman, the young-adult novel, the first in an intended series, follows an 11-year-old boy and his two friends who get possession of a physics book that enables them to alter the physical properties of the world, including gravity.

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