Michael Douglas to portray Liberace

(AFP PHOTO / LOIC VENANCE)

On the heels of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and a battle with cancer, Michael Douglas has signed on to portray the flamboyant pianist Liberace in a biopic to be directed by Steven Soderbergh ( The Informant!, Che).

Matt Damon is set to play Liberace's lover Scott Thorson. The screenplay is based on Thorson's book Behind the Candelabra (My Life With Liberace). Damon is in production on the sci-fi thriller Contagion with Soderbergh currently, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Douglas is planning to take music training to prepare for the role and may wear prosthetic makeup to appear more like the entertainer.

Production is scheduled to start in early summer 2011.

RC