Justin Chadwick is set to write and direct the big-screen adaptation of Stef Penney's novel "The Tenderness of Wolves."

Variety says Film4 and Target Entertainment will develop the flick, which focuses on a mother who's looking for her son in a small town in 1867 Canada.

According to the trade, the project is budgeted at $20 million and will start shooting sometime next year. At this stage, Target is also working on three other novel adaptations.

Chadwick most recently directed Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Bana in "The Other Boleyn Girl." He's currently gearing up to direct "Birdsong," based on the novel by Sebastian Faulks.