The once sci-fi hero director, Paul Verhoeven (“RoboCop,” “Total Recall”), has been laying low for the past several years after the cold response to his 2000 film, “Hollow Man,” which starred Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Shue. With the exception of his highly acclaimed Dutch effort “Black Book” in 2006, Verhoeven has been in near-complete isolation from the Hollywood scene, and he may be due for a comeback.

The director announced on Dutch television that he is currently working on an adaptation of the Louis Couperus novel “De stille kracht” (“The Hidden Force”) with writing partner Gerard Soeteman.

Set in the Dutch East Indies the 110-year-old novel centers on a colonial official who meets fierce resistance after attempting to employ Western reason and logic to a culture so steeped in myth and tradition.

“[The movie is about] rebellion against colonial rule, the emergence of fundamentalist Islam, the behavior between people, adultery and psychic powers. It is a story about things that we do not understand but it does happen,” Verhoeven said.

A passion project for the 72-year-old director, “The Hidden Force” is something he has wanted to make for 40 years but could never put all the pieces together at the right time, particularly the big budget the film would require.  The fact that Verhoeven plans to make it in Dutch probably hasn’t helped either.