Tom Hooper is lining up 'Tulip Fever' as his next project.

The filmmaker - who won the Best Director Oscar for 'The King's Speech' at the Academy Awards on Sunday (27.02.11) - is reported to be "getting serious" about the project, based on the Deborah Moggach novel.

'Tulip Fever' is set in 17th Century Amsterdam and sees a married woman and an artist who has been hired to paint her portrait undergo an affair.

In a bid to run away together, they put their money into the tulip bulb market as way of raising funds.

The film has been in the works for some time, and once had Keira Knightley and Jude Law attached in the leading roles.

John Madden and Peter Chelsom have previously been tipped as directors on the Paramount project.

Tom, 38, is also believed to be mulling over the option of working on a cinematic interpretation of 'Les Miserables', but he has not yet signed on officially.