Playtone has secured the film rights for Jeanne DuPrau's young adult bestseller, THE CITY OF EMBER, reports VARIETY. Partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman are negotiating with Caroline Thompson (EDWARD SCISSORHANDS) to write the screenplay and Gil Kenan to make his directorial debut. Walden Media is in talks to co-produce and co-finance the picture. Set in a future where humans live underground due to the pollution of the surface, two teens follow their dreams – one to become a messenger and travel to the surface world and the other to help repair the generator, which is the key to survival underground.