Gus van Sant, who last directed Sean Penn to an Oscar in Milk, is in negotiations to shoot a project shepherded by new Twilight actress Bryce Howard.

The logline for Restless is being kept under wraps, though the Columbia Pictures project described as contemporary and distinctive take on young love.

Howard will produce with her father Ron Howard and his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer. She attended New York University with the film's rookie scribe Jason Lew and it was there that he first wrote the story as a play. Howard, who had acted in plays with Lew, got a peek at the story and encouraged him to write it as a screenplay.

After several drafts and a gestation period, she brought it to her father who wanted to develop it for Imagine. Lew kept on working on the screenplay with Imagine executives, who ultimately showed it to Van Sant. The director previously partnered with Imagine on the Psycho remake.

Howard (The Village) recently replaced Rachelle Lefevre as Victoria in the third installment of the Twilight franchise, which will be released in June.