Josh Brolin signs on for "Hunchback of Notre Dame"

(CBS) Will Josh Brolin go full hunchback in the "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"? The actor is spearheading a new version of Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Pictures: Josh Brolin in "True Grit"

The script is being written by the team that wrote the upcoming "Sherlock Holmes" sequel. Tim Burton is on board to direct, depending on the script, reports THR.

"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" has been brought to the screen many times in the last 100 years (give or take). Lon Chaney starred in a silent version in 1923 and that's not the first by a long shot. Perhaps the most highly regarded screen retelling, from 1939, stars Charles Laughton as Quasimodo the hunchback.

In the Hugo story, Quasimodo is a bell-ringer who falls in love with a gypsy named Esmerelda. To say it all ends in tragedy - Quasimodo dies of starvation in a mass grave, clutching Esmerelda's corpse - is putting it mildly.

With Burton possibly at the helm and Brolin - who's not afraid of appearing in dark films - acting, expect a more faithful adaptation than, say, Disney's.

The film is in the early stages of development.