While at one point it looked like Jennifer Lawrence would star in novel adaptation Burial Rites for Hunger Games director Gary Ross, the film is actually going with Call Me By Your Name's Luca Guadagnino.
It's an impressive switch behind the camera for the true-crime drama, especially given the love shown to Guadagnino's latest by awards juries. He'll work on developing the film for Sony's TriStar Pictures arm, looking to adapt Hannah Kent's eponymous 2013 book.
Lawrence will produce and star as Agnes Magnusdottir, the last woman to be publicly executed in 1830. Sentenced to death for killing two men and setting their house on fire, the story finds Agnes awaiting confirmation of her sentence by the Icelandic high court while forging new emotional bonds and reflecting on her supposed crimes.
"Luca is a rare talent. His movies capture an exquisite sense of place inextricably linked to the emotional state of the complex characters he creates," TriStar president Hannah Minghella said in a statement picked up by Variety. "I can’t imagine a more thrilling partnership than Luca and Jennifer coming together to bring Agnes’ beautiful and tragic story to life."
Guadagnino has been busy finishing up his Suspiria remake and is developing crime pic Rio. Lawrence will be seen in Red Sparrow, out on 2 March and X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which flies in on 2 November.
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