Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop) has lined up his first directorial project since 2006's acclaimed 'Black Book' and will direct 'The Hidden Force,' which is an adaptation of the Dutch novel of the same name by Louis Couperus. The book was previously adapted in the Netherlands in 1974 as a TV series.The story, which takes place in 1900 on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies and deals with the decline and fall of the Dutch resident Van Oudyck, which is caused by his inability to see further than his own Western rationalism. He is blind and deaf to the slumbering powers of the East Indian people and countryside. The black magic, bird calls, vegetation, heat and the mysterious, hostile attitude of their Javanese subjects prove stronger than the cool power of the colonials.
