Film producers Working Title have confirmed that Joe Wright will direct Tom Stoppard‘s adaptation of the epic romance Anna Karenina.
Production filming in the U.K. and Russia this month with the film expected to be released in the second half of 2012.
Keira Knightley will star as Anna Karenina opposite Jude Law, as Anna’s husband Aleksei Karenina and Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy), as Count Vronsky.
The cast also includes Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Emily Watson, Olivia Williams and Ruth Wilson.
The film is the third Wright has helmed for Working Title and the third time the Director has worked with Knightley.
The story unfolds in its original late-19th-century Russia high-society setting and powerfully explores the capacity for love that surges through the human heart, from the passion between adulterers to the bond between a mother and her children.
As Anna )Knightley) questions her happiness, change comes to her family, friends, and community.
Working Title co-chair Tim Bevan said:“Everyone at Working Title is proud to affirm a longtime collaboration with Joe Wright through this, our fourth picture together.
“That we are able to re-convene cast and crew from Pride & Prejudice and Atonement makes it all the more exciting. We anticipate that this will be a defining screen version of Anna Karenina.”