Brad Pitt has signed on to star in Twelve Years A Slave, the next feature from director Steve McQueen whose latest film Shame has just played at the London Film Festival.

Pitt will star opposite Michael Fassbender (Fish Tank) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men) in the indie drama.

Based on Solomon Northup’s autobiography, Twelve Years A Slave centers on a man (Ejiofor) living in New York during the mid-1800s who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the deep south.

Steve McQueen will direct from a script he co-wrote with John Ridley (Bobby).

Filming is expected to begin sometime next year.

Pitt will next be seen in Moneyball, which opens in the U.K. on November 25.

Source: Screen Daily