Would You Pay to See Jennifer Lawrence in 'East of Eden'? How about twice?

Jennifer Lawrence can turn just about any movie to gold, but can her magic touch get young audiences excited about a movie based on a John Steinbeck novel? And if so, can she get those audiences to turn out a second time if the movie adaptation of the novel is split into two parts? Writer/director Gary Ross hopes that the answer to both questions is an enthusiastic yes.

Ross, who directed Lawrence in "The Hunger Games," told The Hollywood Reporter that a project based on Steinbeck's "East of Eden" is something that he and Lawrence intend to do, depending on when the director and the actress can both find enough time in their schedules.

"East of Eden," a multi-generational family saga, has been brought to film before, most famously by director Elia Kazan in his 1955 version that starred James Dean and Julie Harris. The book is sprawling, spanning the years between the Civil War and the end of World War I. Kazan's version, though, only concerned itself with the last part of the story.

"The Kazan film, which is brilliant, only deals with about the last third of the novel," Ross said. "It deals with Cal and Aron Trask when they’re already almost adults. The novel begins much earlier, just after the Civil War. Deals with a generation earlier. It’s really remarkable."

A 1981 TV miniseries version of the story starring Jane Seymour was more ambitious and adapted the entire book over the course of eight hours. Ross seems to be leaning toward the latter approach and is considering splitting the story into two movies. Lawrence is set to play the character of Cathy Ames, an edgy woman with a "malformed soul" who plays a role that stretches throughout the extended time span of the story—so she'd likely play a part in both installments.