Now Jones is upping his game for the next project to catch his fancy – the posthumously published novel by Ernest Hemingway "Islands in the Stream." Tommy Lee will adapt the script, direct and star in the feature. Wow. He must really like Hemingway. Either that or he is some kind of control freak – maybe both?

Published in 1970, "Islands in the Stream" follows a reclusive man through various stages in his life before, during and after World War II. The book is set mainly in the Bahamas and was previously excerpted and expanded by Hemingway into the Freshman Lit staple "The Old Man and the Sea."

Jones will play Thomas Hudson, an ex-Navy man who endures family tragedies by presenting a stony exterior to those around him. How will Tommy Lee Jones ever mange the part? His screen roles have been so ebullient and 'heart on the sleeve' recently – "In the Valley of Elah," anyone?

"Islands in the Stream" is expected to be budgeted at around thirty million with a production starting in Puerto Rico next March. Till then, Tommy Lee can work on getting some good grave robbing scenes into the screenplay. If they're not in there already – Hemingway was kind of a weird dude.

The Sun Also Rises for Tommy Lee here.