EXCLUSIVE– Naomi Watts is in final negotiations to star in Colin Trevorrow’s hot project Book of Henry. Focus Features is financing, releasing worldwide and overseeing the production. Sidney Kimmel Entertainment will co-produce the film with Double Nickel Entertainment. Sidney Kimmel and Carla Hacken will produce via the Sidney Kimmel Entertainment banner, along with Double Nickel’s Jenette Kahn and Adam Richman (Gran Torino). SKE’s President, John Penotti will exec produce.

Book of Henry is an original screenplay written by best-selling novelist Gregg Hurwitz (Tell No Lies, Don’t Look Back). The plot of the film, which begins shooting in New York in September of this year, is being kept under wraps. If the deal makes, this is a big get for Watts, who is enjoying a potentially stellar year with Toronto opener Demolition opposite Jake Gyllenhaal for director Jean-Marc Vallee as well as the next two instalments of the Divergent series: Allegiant Parts 1 +2 in the pipelines.

This has been a fast-tracked project ever since Trevorrow scored supernova grosses with Jurassic World for Focus parent Universal. That pic, starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, has already earned over $1.5 billion globally. Trevorrow also has history with Focus chief exec Peter Schlessel, who released the director’s Sundance hit Safety Not Guaranteed while he was still at FilmDistrict.

Watts is repped by CAA, Markham, Froggatt and Irwin and Untitled Entertainment.

Sarah Silverman, Lee Pace and Dean Norris have joined the cast of Focus Features’ “The Book of Henry,” which hails from “Jurassic World” director Colin Trevorrow, TheWrap has learned.

Naomi Watts stars alongside up-and-coming young actors Jaeden Lieberher (“St. Vincent”) and Jacob Tremblay (“Room”).

“The Book of Henry” is an original screenplay written by bestselling novelist Gregg Hurwitz, though the plot of the film is being kept under wraps.

Focus Features is overseeing production and holds worldwide distribution rights. The film’s producers are Sidney Kimmel and Carla Hacken of Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, and Jenette Kahn and Adam Richman of Double Nickel Entertainment. SKE president John Penotti will executive produce with Sue Baden-Powell.

- See more at: https://www.thewrap.com/sarah-silver....XFC7DuBS.dpuf

Sometimes things are not always what they seem, especially in the small suburban town where the Carpenter family lives. Single suburban mother Susan (Naomi Watts) works as a waitress at a diner, alongside feisty friend Sheila (Sarah Silverman). Her younger son Peter (Jacob Tremblay) is a playful 8-year-old. Taking care of everyone and everything is Susan’s older son Henry (Jaeden Lieberher), age 11. Protector to his adoring younger brother and tireless supporter of his often self-doubting mother – and, through investments, of the family – Henry blazes through the days like a comet. Susan discovers that the family next door, which includes Henry’s kind classmate Christina (Maddie Ziegler), has a dangerous secret – and that Henry has devised a surprising plan to help. As his brainstormed rescue plan for Christina takes shape in thrilling ways, Susan finds herself at the center of it.