BREAKING: DreamWorks Studios has acquired the manuscript to Matthew Quick’s latest novel, The Good Luck Of Right Now. It’s his followup to the Best Picture nominee Silver Linings Playbook and was bought by production president Holly Bario.

The story follows the intertwined lives of four people, who are all outsiders in their own right. However, in the wake of grieving over pain and loss in their lives, they come together to form the most unlikely family. I wrote about this one when CAA slipped it to buyers a week ago. The characters are quirkier than those in Silver Linings Playbook, and there is also the Richard Gere factor. The protagonist is a guy who might not be bipolar, but is certainly “off.” He takes care of his mother, who suffers from dementia. She has been calling him Richard, and the caretaker tells the story of this broken circle of characters in letters written to Richard Gere. The film is once again set in Philadelphia, and the love interest is a librarian. She and her brother believe they were once abducted by aliens.

“We immediately sparked to Matthew Quick’s book and the heart and humor which is infused in his storytelling,” said Holly Bario. “All of us at DreamWorks are excited to begin developing this story and look to make it a priority at the studio.”

CAA repped Quick with Douglas Stewart of Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc., who simultaneously negotiated the publishing rights for the book to Harper Collins. The publisher bought it for U.S. and Canada. They are targeting Spring 2014 to launch the book.