Keira Knightley - Keira Knightley To Star In Tolstoy Epic

Keira Knightley has been confirmed in director JOE WRIGHT's adaptation of the epic Leo Tolstoy novel, Anna Karenina.

Filming will begin later this month (Sept. 2011) and the movie will also star Jude Law as well as Aaron Johnson after an announcement was made by production company Focus Feature "Joe Wright will direct the epic romance Anna Karenina, adapted from Leo Tolstoy's classic novel by ACADEMY Award winner Tom Stoppard. The Working Title Films production will commence filming in the U.K. and Russia this month". Director Wright has worked with Knightley on literary adaptations twice before with movies Pride & Prejudice and Atonement. First published in 1873 the novel is considered one of the world's great pieces of literature and is the story of love within the Russian aristocracy. Tolstoy's work has recently become fashionable following the 2010 biopic about the writer, The Last Station, which received two OSCAR nominations.

Knightley was born in London and first came to national attention after starring in 2002 comedy drama Bend It Like Beckham. She gained international recognition following her appearance opposite Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean which was a huge box office success. She is currently filming alongside Steve Carell in new movie Seeking a Friend for the End of the World which is the story of a man who teams up with his neighbour to find his childhood sweetheart before an asteroid crashes into the Earth.