An adaptation of David Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas has been on the books for quite some time with the only people attached for sure being the Wachowski brothers who are producing, and Tom Tykwer (director of Run Lola Run) at the helm. The project is about to pick up steam though as offers to play the film's six leads have gone out to some of the biggest names in Tinsel Town.

Tom Hanks tops the A-list of actors approached by the sibling producers to star in the film, followed closely by hot commodity James McAvoy, Gandalf himself Ian McKellen, Natalie Portman, and Halle Berry. According to The Playlist, who caught the news on Production Weekly, fans of Mitchell's work should be able to easily place the actors with their respective roles. Cloud Atlas sounds daunting, as it spans six story lines over a millenia, but the unfilmable nature of the story is probably what drew the risk taking Wachowskis to the project.

Of course, the sheer breadth of the story inspires early fear that the film will feel too fast paced in order to squeeze everything in, or so much will be chopped that the plot will be unrecognizable from its source. Having the Wachowskis behind the wheel will help quell some of those fears as they surely aren't afraid to bloat their run times, so hopefully the production company lets them run with it. More on this as writers and actors are added to the production.