Emma Watson to Star in Film of Dave Eggers’s The Circle

Harry Potter fans, recently beset by dispatches from the Potter-verse, have yet another thing to freak out about: Emma Watson has signed on to play the lead in the film adaption of Dave Eggers’s novel The Circle.

The novel’s title refers to a powerful tech company that combines the capabilities of Facebook, Google, et al, enabling users to forge one all-encompassing Internet identity. At the center of The Circle is Watson’s character, Mae Holland, a wide-eyed new hire who finds herself confronting the unpleasant realities of a digital epoch in which the notion of privacy becomes laughable.

Tom Hanks has been tapped to play one of three CEO characters, and James Ponsoldt (the auteur behind the upcoming DFW biopic) will direct. Ponsoldt said of Watson: “Emma Watson is one of my favorite actors, and her incredible talent, sensitivity and deep intelligence will bring an electric energy to The Circle.”

Watson’s latest role will follow a spate of post-Potter successes, most notably the film version of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Watson may yet succeed in eclipsing the role that made her famous, but if she continues to soar toward lifelong celebrity on the wings of novel adaptations, Potterheads can rest assured that Girl Whose Career Lived will not forget where her star ignited.