Variety reports that Simon Baker (The Mentalist) and producer Mark Johnson have picked up the feature rights to Tim Winton's novel Breath.

Baker is going to play one of the leads in the film. Before he and Johnson start getting funding together they want to get a director on board.

Published in 2008, Breath is set in a small town in Western Australia where two 16-year-olds start surfing under the tutelage of a surfer named Sando (Baker) and his wife. Inspired by their mentor, "the boys test the limits of courage and recklessness as they try to escape their mundane lives."

"Winton's book beautifully captures the excitement and brutality of growing up in a way I've only experienced but have never been able to articulate," Baker stated.