Darren Aronofsky's follow-up to his biblical epic Noah is now up in the air, as Heat Vision reports the filmmaker has pulled out of negotiations for Red Sparrow, the Fox adaptation of the spy thriller by Jason Matthews.

Matthews, a former CIA officer, released the novel through Scribner last summer. Here's how the publisher describes the plot:

In present-day Russia, ruled by blue-eyed, unblinking President Vladimir Putin, Russian intelligence officer Dominika Egorova struggles to survive in the post-Soviet intelligence jungle. Ordered against her will to become a “Sparrow,” a trained seductress, Dominika is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, a young CIA officer who handles the Agency’s most important Russian mole.

As the action careens between Russia, Finland, Greece, Italy, and the United States, Dominika and Nate soon collide in a duel of wills, tradecraft, and—inevitably—forbidden passion that threatens not just their lives but those of others as well. As secret allegiances are made and broken, Dominika and Nate’s game reaches a deadly crossroads. Soon one of them begins a dangerous double existence in a life-and-death operation that consumes intelligence agencies from Moscow to Washington, DC.

Fox reportedly wants to move forward with Red Sparrow, and is on the hunt for a screenwriter.