Rashida Jones is set to direct a Goldie Vance comic book movie adaptation for 20th Century Fox, with Scandal star Kerry Washington producing through her Simpson Street banner. The project is based on BOOM! Studios' comic book series of the same name, first published in 2016 by Eisner Award-winning writer Hope Larson (who has worked on DC Comics' Batgirl since last year) and illustrator Brittany Williams. Story-wise, Goldie Vance revolves around Marigold "Goldie" Vance, a sixteen year old girl and wannabe professional sleuth who lives with her dad at the Florida resort that he manages.

Jones is perhaps best known for her roles on comedy TV shows like NBC's The Office and Parks and Recreation, as well as her role in TBS' crime procedural satire Angie Tribeca. However, in recent years, she has begun branching out behind the camera; having made her feature-length screenwriting debut on the romantic dramedy Celeste and Jesse Forever (which Jones also starred in) and having written the Black Mirror episode 'Nosedive', in addition to serving as an executive producer on both Angie Tribeca and the crime comedy/drama TV show Claws. Although Jones was originally set to cowrite Pixar's upcoming Toy Story 4, she has since left that animated film and is now focusing her efforts on another family-friendly project in the form of Goldie Vance.

Related: Original Toy Story 4 Writers Explain Why They Left

Deadline is reporting that Jones will "adapt and direct" the Goldie Vance movie, indicating that she will be working on the film's script in addition to calling the shots. BOOM! Studios' Ross Richie and Stephen Christy are also producing the comic book adaptation, along with Washington and BOOM!'s Adam Yoelin. The intention is for the production to launch a new family-friendly franchise for Fox, drawing inspiration from the numerous Goldie Vance comic book stories that have already been published (as well as those yet to come).

Goldie Vance looking at a necklace with her friend

While Fox still owns the lucrative X-Men movie rights (unless Disney has something to say about that...) and will release three fresh installments in that Marvel franchise next year alone (starting with The New Mutants next April), the studio doesn't really have any dependable family-oriented feature properties to call its own, at the moment. The Fox-distributed Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie was a box office success with families earlier this year, but Universal Pictures will be taking over distribution on any sequels that are produced to that DreamWorks Animation film. That is to say, there's an opening in Fox's movie slate that Goldie Vance could nicely fill.

Beyond that, Goldie Vance is another welcome example of a comic book property that was created by women and will now be adapted for the big screen by women to boot. The project also joins upcoming projects like Gina Prince-Bythewood's Silver & Black and Emily Carmichael's Lumberjanes on the list of comic book adaptations that are either being co-directed or solely helmed by talented women. Between those movies and Marvel Studios/DC Entertainment heavyweights like Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman 2, there's some refreshing variety in the breadth of genre and subject matter of these comic book films too. (Not to mention, multiple women of color directing at last.)

On top of all that, Goldie Vance will serve as the first non-documentary feature directed by Jones. Here is to hoping that she joins the list of actors who successfully made the transition to making movies themselves, with her teen girl super-sleuth adventure.

MORE: Disney & Fox Discussions Back On?

Goldie Vance doesn't have an official theatrical release date at the moment.

Source: Deadline