'Beauty and the Beast' producers to adapt 'Punch Escrow' novel

Los Angeles: David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman of Mandeville Films, the duo behind the "Beauty and the Beast" live-action remake, are set to adapt Tal M Klein's debut novel 'The Punch Escrow' for the big screen.

Director James Bobin will helm the sci-fi thriller, which also marks his reunion with the two producers. The trio has previously worked on Disney's 2011 musical comedy "The Muppets", according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Set in the year 2147, Punch Escrow is about Joel Byram's story, who lives a normal life, spending his days training artificial-intelligence engines to act more human ? until the day he's accidentally duplicated while teleporting.