Joe Cornish to adapt Neal Stephenson's 'Snow Crash'

Neal Stephenson's cyber-punk novel "Snow Crash" is once again in the sights of Paramount Pictures for a feature film adaptation.

The novel was published in 1992.

Deadline reports "Attack the Block" director Joe Cornish is set to write and direct the adaptation.

According to the report, Paramount had the rights to the novel when it was first published in 1992, but dropped it. Disney then acquired it with Kennedy/Marshall producing, but again it went nowhere. The production company then got Cornish involved and brought the project back to Paramount.

In addition to the sci-fi comedy "Attack the Block," Cornish also helped write Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" and is attached to the forthcoming Marvel adaptation, "Ant-Man."

The official synopsis of "Snow Crash" describe the book as follows: "In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo’s CosaNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he’s a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that’s striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about Infocalypse. "Snow Crash" is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous...you'll recognize it immediately."

Fox looking for 'Die Hard 5' director

John McClane is set to find himself in the wrong place, at the wrong time...for the fifth time.

The last "Die Hard" film debuted in '07.

According to Deadline, 20th Century Fox is moving forward with a fifth installment in the action franchise, "Die Hard," with Bruce Willis as the embattled cop McClane.

The studio is reportedly working to shore up a director and has a short list which includes Joe Cornish ("Attack the Block"), Justin Lin ("Fast Five"), Nicolas Winding Refn ("Drive") and John Moore ("Max Payne").

Lin is probably the most in-demand of the directors coming off the success of "Fast Five," and the news that he is attached to the revival of "The Terminator" series, although that project has been left in limbo since Arnold Schwarzenegger's marriage scandal.

The original "Die Hard" shot its way into theaters in 1988, and the latest installment, "Live Free or Die Hard," arrived in June 2007, bringing home $134 million domestically and $383 million worldwide on a production budget of $110 million. That film was directed by Len Wiseman, also known for the "Underworld" films.

Despite its faults, "Live Free or Die Hard" was a decent summer action flick, although there is simply something not quite right about a PG-13-rated "Die Hard" film. As last year's "RED" proved, however, Willis still has some years left in him as an action star.