Uma Thurman along with a couple of German producers, has bought the rights to the ecological thriller The Swarm written by Frank Schaetzing.

The book dominated the German best seller list for a whole year and went on to be translated into multiple languages. Its description sounds quite...well...odd to say the least:

The world begins to suffer an escalating and sensational series of natural disasters, and two marine biologists begin to develop a theory that the cause lies in the oceans, where an entity know as the Yrr has developed a massive network of single-cell organisms. It is wreaking havoc in order to prevent humankind from destroying the earth's ecological balance forever. The Americans, under the ruthless General Judith Lee, take a more pragmatic approach than the scientists, seeking to wipe out the being of the deep. The scene is set for a massive confrontation...

The author has been approached before to sell the rights, but it seems this time was right. From Yahoo News:

"Several big-name studios and producers have pitched for the stuff in the past few years," Schaetzing said. "For me, Uma, Ica and Michael are the ideal constellation for an international film success. We have the same vision."

Sounds like an interesting story, and Thurman's first production project outside TV. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.