Naomi Watts has scored the coveted role to portray the late Princess Diana in a biographical film from director Oliver Hirschbiegel that will chronicle the last two years of her life.
Jessica Chastain was originally thought to be the frontrunner to play Princess Diana in the film, now titled Caught in Flight, but Ecosse Films and producers have officially announced Watts as the lady for the high profile job. Hirschbiegel helped choose Watts for the role to embody the “warmth, humanity and empathy of such a global icon as Princess Diana.”
Production is scheduled to begin on Caught in Flight later this year based on a screenplay by relative newcomer Stephen Jeffreys (The Libertine). The film will be shot appropriately in the United Kingdom and follow the former Princess of Wales as she focused her efforts on humanitarian causes and international campaigning during the finals years of her life.
Hirschbiegel is best known for directing Downfall, a portrait of the final days of Adolf Hitler in his bunker as told through the voice of the former dictator’s secretary.
Princess Diana died in a violent Paris automobile crash in August 1997. Naomi Watts (J. Edgar, Dream House) was 29 years old at the time of the Princess’ death.
