Diane Lane, Elle Fanning join Trumbo

Diane Lane, Elle Fanning, John Goodman and Michael Stuhlbarg are in final negotiations to join Bryan Cranston and Helen Mirren in Jay Roach’s Dalton Trumbo biopic, Trumbo.

Mirren will play Trumbo’s nemesis Hedda Hopper while Lane (Man of Steel, Unfaithful) is due to play Trumbo’s wife Cleo.

Maleficent star Fanning is set to play Trumbo’s daughter while Goodman will portray producer Frank King.

Boardwalk Empire and Blue Jasmine star Stuhlbarg is set to play iconic Golden Age actor Edward G Robinson, famous for his roles in Little Caesar and Key Largo.

Since introducing buyers to John McNamara’s buzzed-about script, eOne International has sold the film to a slew of territories including France and French-speaking territories (TF1), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Scandinavia (Scanbox), South Africa/Pan Africa (Times Media Group), Middle East (Selim Ramia & Co), Vietnam and Thailand (IPA Inc), Greece and Greek-speaking Cyprus (Feelgood Entertainment), Former Yugoslavia (Discovery Film), Israel (Lev Films) and Airlines (Entertainment in Motion).

eOne will distribute in the UK, Canada and Australia/New Zealand.

Based on a true story, TV writer McNamara’s script charts the rise and fall of Dalton Trumbo - the highest-paid screenwriter in the world who was dragged in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities during the Cold War and ultimately sent to prison.

Remaining rebellious after his release, Trumbo became Hollywood’s most prolific blacklisted writer, secretly writing classics including Roman Holiday and winning two Academy Awards under an alias. Helping end the blacklist once and for all, he eventually cleared his name and was publicly given credit for Exodus (screenplay) and Spartacus (screenwriter).

Michael London, Janice Williams, Nimitt Mankad, Shivani Rawat, Monica Levinson, Kevin Brown and John McNamara produce alongside Kelly Mullen who is executive producer.

Shoot is due to get underway on September 15 in the US.