Adaline, a supernatural romance about a woman who doesn't age after a freak accident but considers giving up her immortality for the perfect man, was set last summer to star Katherine Heigl and be directed by Andy Tennant, making it the team-up between the star of The Ugly Truth and the director of You Again that you never, ever wanted. When Heigl bailed on the project last November, though, apparently Tennant went with her, meaning the producers at Lakeshore Entertainment and Sidney Kimmel had to hunt down a new director.

Now they've found the right guy in Gabriele Muccino, the Italian director who moved over to the States with one Will Smith hit-- The Pursuit of Happyness-- and one total disaster-- Seven Pounds. According to Variety he'll take on Adaline next January, once he's done shooting Playing the Field with Gerard Butler as the star. There's no star on board to replace Heigl, but I can imagine long lists of up-and-coming starlets who would jump at the chance to take a lead romantic role. The casting speculation won't be as fervent as for something like, say, Captain America, but I'm at least interested to see what direction they head with it.