Capote screenwriter plays murdered journalist

The furore that Angelina Jolie inspired by gazumping Jennifer Aniston for the part of Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart probably obscured the more intriguing issue of who would play the role of the murdered journalist in the adaptation.

However, film fans can rest easy now that Paramount has announced that Dan Futterman, Capote screenwriter and Judging Amy star, will play the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

And the reason for the initial secrecy? Well, cult director Michael Winterbottom (Welcome To Sarajevo, The Road To Guantanamo) wanted to do some undercover shooting in Pakistan, Futterman told the Washington Post.

"It was important to shoot in the actual places where things happened. There are lots of little things that were important to Michael, not least of all the people and the sound of the language spoken," he said.

The adaptation of Mariane Pearl's novel A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life And Death Of My Husband Daniel Pearl, follows the tragic story of her husband, who was killed by a Pakistani militant group called The National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty.

The picture is being produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B production company.

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