LOS ANGELES - Scarlett Johansson has already proved she can inhabit the 17th century - thanks to her highly praised turn as Vermeer's Girl With A Pearl Earring.
Now the accomplished young Hollywood actress appears to be claiming ownership over the 16th.
Hot on the heels of playing a woman who almost married Henry VIII - in the forthcoming period piece The Other Boleyn Girl - she is now set to play Mary Queen of Scots in a film written by Jimmy McGovern, the creator of the television series Cracker.
Yesterday's Hollywood Reporter announced the 21-year-old actress's decision to take the role.
Her mother and manager, Melanie Johansson, will be one of the film's producers, which has a tentative budget of around $25-30 million.
No director has been hired yet.
Shooting would probably begin sometime next year.
Johansson, whose notable appearances include roles in Ghost World and Lost In Translation, has been spending much of her time criss-crossing the Atlantic in recent years.
She shot Match Point with Woody Allen in London, and then followed it up with the recently released Scoop.
Like many previous retellings, the new version of the Mary Queen of Scots story would focus on the stormy relationship between the young Mary and her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, who ended up ordering her execution.
There is no word on who might play Elizabeth.
- INDEPENDENT
Scarlett Johansson to play Mary Queen of Scots
Scarlett Johansson
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