Colfer would star as the British playwright in the film — under the working title "Noël" — which is penned by Martin Sherman and will be directed by Joe Stephenson.

Tony Award winners Ian McKellen (Amadeus, Waiting for Godot/No Man's Land), Vanessa Redgrave (Long Day's Journey Into Night) and Jonathan Pryce (Miss Saigon) are also in talks to join the cast of the film, which spans Coward's early life.

Writer, director, performer and producer Coward received a Special Tony Award in 1970 and was Tony-nominated for his work on High Spirits and The Girl Who Came to Supper. He is the author of such plays as Private Lives, Brief Encounter, Present Laughter, Blithe Spirit and Waiting in the Wings, among others. He was Oscar-nominated for the screenplay of "In Which We Serve."

Stephenson with Julia Valentine will produce with executive producers Colin Vaines, Jane Wright, Jane Hawley, Enfys Dickinson, Daniel Pickering and Andrew Ornitharis.

Production is slated to begin in the U.K. during the late summer.