Dutch director Paul Verhoeven will develop and direct a thriller The Surrogate for 20th Century Fox.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film is based on the 2004 book by Kathryn Mackel, and centers on a couple desperate to have a child who find themselves in an unbearable position when they find out the surrogate they hired to carry their baby is insane.

The project originally was set up at Fox Atomic but moved to Fox proper when Atomic was shuttered.

Roderick Taylor and Bruce Taylor wrote the original draft.

No production date has been set.

The Surrogate was released in 2009.