JACK BLACK - JACK BLACK TO TAKE GULLIVER'S TRAVELS TO LILLIPUT

Jack Black is to encounter the diminutive inhabitants of Lilliput in a new film version of Gulliver's Travels.

Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel tells of travel writer Lemuel Gulliver who, while on an assignment in the Bermuda Triangle, washes ashore on the island of Lilliput.

And Kung Fu Panda star Black is to take the title role in a new production from 20th Century Fox, Variety confirms.

Shark Tale director Rob Letterman has been attached to the project for some time but its development has been shrouded in secrecy due to Swift's novel being in the public domain.

Shooting is to start in March with a script from Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller and Shrek writer Joe Stillman,

A mix of live action and computer animation is expected for the new film, which will be the latest in a long line of Gulliver's Travels adaptations.

Ted Danson was the most recent actor to play the 18th century adventurer, starring alongside his wife Mary Steenburgen in a TV miniseries.

Letterman's movie is to transport the action to the present day, it is believed.

Black can next be seen in Apatow Productions' prehistoric comedy Year One and is also signed up to star in sequels for School of Rock and Kung Fu Panda.