Doug Liman to Direct ‘Time and Again’ for Summit

'Time and Again' is a cult favorite novel with a long history of almost making it to the big (or small) screen. But Summit Entertainment has the rights and they've just signed director Doug Liman (the upcoming 'All You Need is Kill') to helm the adaptation.

Variety reports that Liman has signed the dotted line to bring the illustrated novel 'Time and Again' to the big screen. Based on the 1970 story by Jack Finney ('The Body Snatcher'), 'Time and Again' tells the story of Simon Morley, an illustrator living in Manhattan who enlists himself in a secret government experiment (ugh, been there) that finds him traveling back in time to 1882, where he meets and falls in love with a young woman, and is forced to choose between staying in the past to be with his love or returning to the future to... keep doodling things, we guess? The choice seems pretty simple. The internet wasn't even invented yet, so why would you even want to go back to 1970?

The rights to the tale have been in the hands of some interesting folks over the years, from Robert Redford (who was clued into the story by pals Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and John Foreman -- who all owned the rights at the time) to Thom Thayer, formerly of Universal Television, who wanted to turn the story into a television series.

Liman seems primed for the job, with 'All You Need is Kill,' starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, hitting theaters next year and a resume that includes 'The Bourne Identity' and 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith.'