Hopkins to play Hitchcock

Sir Anthony Hopkins has signed on to play legendary director Alfred Hitchcock in a new biopic.

Alfred Hitchcock & the Making of Psycho is based on Stephen Rebello's book of the same name and the film will be directed by Sacha Gervasi.

Dame Helen Mirren is in talks to play Hitchcock's wife, Alma Reville, according to CinemaBlend.com.

The film will chronicle Hitchcock's experiences while filming the thriller Psycho in the late 1950s. The film became an instant classic when it was released in 1960 and many film fans argue it is the director's greatest movie.

The role will mark Sir Anthony's latest real-person portrayal - the British-born movie star has also played former US president Richard Nixon, artist Pablo Picasso, bike racer Burt Munro, former British leader David Lloyd George and writer Charles Dickens on screen. He is also currently playing literary great Ernest Hemingway in Hemingway & Fuentes.

Alfred Hitchcock & the Making of Psycho isn't the only film about the director's great works currently in early development - Sienna Miller has been cast as Tippi Hedren in an as-yet untitled film about the actress' relationship with the legendary filmmaker on the set of 1963's The Birds.