That Luc Besson, eh? No sooner does he tease us with talk of a new sci-fi extravaganza to rival The Fifth Element than it transpires what he's actually working on right this minute is a biopic of Aung San Suu Kyi, which looks set to star Michelle Yeoh as the Burmese opposition leader.

Some filming on Into the Light has apparently already taken place in Thailand, and Suu Kyi's lawyer Nyan Win has confirmed that Michelle Yeoh has visited the pro-democracy leader in Rangoon, fuelling speculation that Besson's leading lady is in place. Everyone involved is subject to a confidentiality clause, but the film is understood to be shooting in English, with a modest budget of 22m euros.

Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest in Rangoon. Her National League For Democracy won 60% of the vote against the Burmese military Junta in the 1990 general election, but the results were declared void. She was awarded the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought in 1990, and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She was only, finally, released last month.  

Besson's last directorial outing was the fantastical Les Aventures Extraordinaires d'Adele Blanc Sec, and the closest he's come to political biopic in the past was with the historical Joan of Arc. That film however, arguably has more in common with The Fifth Element (with its feet firmly planted in the French comic book tradition) than to any serious past political projects, so we're intrigued to see how the director will treat a contemporary story like Suu Kyi's. Presumably Dustin Hoffman won't be playing the voice in her head.

More news as it arrives.