Scottish actor Ewan McGregor is to make his directorial feature film debut with American Pastoral, Lakeshore Entertainment announced Wednesday.
McGregor will star with Jennifer Connelly and Dakota Fanning in the film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel written by Philip Roth.
Phillip Noyce was previously attached to direct. No reason was given for his departure from the project.
"Ewan's talent goes far beyond his on-screen work and we're excited to be working with a director who is as passionate as we are about telling the story of American Pastoral," Lakeshore Chief Executive Officer Tom Rosenberg said in a statement.
"It's a great privilege to be working with Lakeshore on Phillip Roth's astounding novel American Pastoral," added McGregor. "I've wanted to direct for years and wanted to wait until I found a story that I 'had' to tell and in this script I knew I had found that story. I'm looking forward to the challenge of being on both sides of the camera, especially knowing I'll be working with Jennifer and Dakota."
The movie's screenplay was written by John Romano. Filming is scheduled to begin in September in Pittsburgh. It will be produced by Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi.