Speaking of Starbucks

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Tom Hanks sure likes his triple venti latte.

The actor is attached to star in "How Starbucks Saved My Life," about an advertising executive who loses his job and family and has to work at the coffee chain to pay the bills. He befriends the young manager and learns about life and love.

Gus Van Sant is in negotiations to direct the Universal project. Hanks will also serve as a producer.

The project is based on a fiction book proposal by Michael Gates Gill, a former ad exec who co-wrote the nonfiction book "Fired Up! The Dramatic Truth of What It Really Takes to Move from Fearful Employee to Successful, Fired Up Entrepreneur."

Hanks next stars in "The Da Vinci Code," which opens May 19. Van Sant is attached to direct "The Time Traveler's Wife" at New Line. His credits include 2005's "Last Days."