Entertainment Weekly reports that Viggo Mortensen is in early talks to star in the big-screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's best-selling novel "The Road."

The story, about a man and his young son traveling through a desperate, post-apocalyptic world, is being adapted by Joe Penhall ("Enduring Love").

Aussie John Hillcoat ("The Proposition") will direct. Mortensen's involvement may require some tricky scheduling since the actor is next set to head to New Mexico to shoot the Ed Harris-directed "Appaloosa."