Paramount is in final negotiations with Brit filmmaker Matthew Vaughn ("Layer Cake") to direct and produce his adaptation of Neil Gaiman's adult fairy tale "Stardust" reports Variety.

Gaiman's novel, first published in 1997 as "Stardust: Being a Romance Within the Realms of Faerie," is set in a town in the English countryside where the magical and mortal mix.

Story's centered on a young man who promises his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm, where he has to contend with witches, goblins, gnomes, talking animals and evil trees.

Vaughn penned the script with writing partner Jane Goldman. "Stardust," was originally set up at Dimension.

Thanks to 'Blake'