Richard Linklater may direct Jennifer Lawrence in Graeme Simsion’s ‘Rosie Project’

Richard Linklater, the iconoclastic Austin, Texas, director best known for “Dazed and Confused” and “Boyhood,” is the leading candidate to direct the film adaptation of Graeme Simsion’s novel “The Rosie Project,” Deadline reports.

Jennifer Lawrence has been cast as Rosie, a bartender who catches the attention of an awkward geneticist trying to find a suitable partner. The screenplay for the film was written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, the writing team behind the movie adaptations of John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Paper Towns.”

“The Rosie Project” became an unlikely bestseller when it was released in 2013. The book, which follows a professor’s attempt to use a questionnaire to find the perfect wife, was the debut novel from Simsion, a former IT consultant who lives in Australia.

The novel drew strong reviews, and even found a fan in Bill Gates, who called it “funny and profound ... one of the most enjoyable novels I’ve read in a long time.”

A sequel to the book, “The Rosie Effect,” was released last year.

No other casting for “The Rosie Project” has been announced, although Vanity Fair writer Josh Duboff has some guesses for the role of Don Tillman, the professor who finds himself attracted to Rosie: “Mark Ruffalo comes to mind immediately, for some reason. Jessica Chastain would be an unexpected and amazing choice. Though, since this is a J.Law film, it’s probably going to just be Bradley Cooper, isn’t it?”