Film rights for John Steinbeck’s American classic EAST OF EDEN have just been sold to Universal Pictures/Imagine Entertainment, with Gary Ross to direct, Allison Shearmur at Lionsgate to produce, and Jennifer Lawrence to play Steinbeck’s iconic villainess Cathy Ames. The novel was previously made into film in 1955, starring James Dean and Richard Davalos, directed by Elia Kazan.