Marc Forster to direct 'The Kite Runner'

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Director Marc Forster is taking the helm of the DreamWorks Pictures' screen adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner."

"Kite Runner" tells the story of a man who returns to his native Afghanistan, which is under Taliban rule, to right a long-standing wrong and rescue the son of a childhood friend, the Hollywood Reporter said Monday.

Hosseini's debut novel was published in spring 2003 and has been on the New York Times paperback fiction best-seller list since September 2004 with more than 2.5 million copies in print.

Locations for shooting are being scouted in Morocco, Turkey and India, the Reporter said.

Forster directed 2001's "Monster's Ball," for which Halle Berry won a best actress Oscar and last year's "Finding Neverland," which garnered seven Academy Award nominations, including a best actor nod for Johnny Depp.