According to Deadline Hollywood, Fox has purchased a science fiction pitch for a story about a brilliant/crackpot scientist who invents astounding things and has to save his thought-to-be-dead wife from another dimension. Theory of Everything comes from Dan Casey and Nick Nantell, and proves at least two things. One, that mainstream science fiction is headed into some truly, wondrously insane territory.

Two, that making a comic book first seems to be a handy key for closing a deal.

We’ve heard for years that producers and execs have asked writers to turn their ideas into graphic novels before moving forward with a movie — if only to enable the studio to slap “Based on the Graphic Novel” on posters. Here, Casey and Nantell (along with artist Thomas Nachlik) created the book for Top Cow‘s Pilot Season, when the publisher tosses out a batch of one-off books and lets readers vote on which should continue. Theory was not the winner, but it clearly got the right eyes on it, and having what amounts to a storyboarded proof-of-concept must have made it easier for Fox and for producer Dan Jinks (American Beauty) to get on board.

Now the only question is if Stephen Hawking will make a cameo.