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Matthew McConaughey is reportedly set to take the lead role in Gus Van Sant's next movie Sea of Trees , about the Aokigahara forest in Japan which has become a hotspot for suicides.
Chris Sparling will pen the film's script, which according to Variety sees McConaughey play a suicidal man who meets a character played by Ken Watanabe in the forest.
Known as the Sea of Trees, Aokigahara is a 35-square-kilometre forest near Mount Fuji that has become a popular place for people to take their lives, with up to 100 people committing suicide there each year with signs having to be put up in an attempt to dissuade people.
McConaughey has come into his own in the past few years, with critically-acclaimed roles in Mud , Killer Joe , The Wolf of Wall Street and most recently Dallas Buyers Club , which earned him several awards for his role of AIDS sufferer Ron Woodroof.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nomineesShow all 20 1 /20Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Cate Blanchett (Best Actress) Blanchett has been nominated for Best Actress for her role as a deeply troubled New York socialite in Blue Jasmine.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Sandra Bullock (Best Actress) Bullock is nominated for her performance as a medical engineer in Alfonso Cuaron's space adventure Gravity.
Associated Press
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Meryl Streep (Best Actress) Here pictured left with Julianne Nicholson and Juliette Lewis, Streep has earned a nod for her performance as Violet Weston in August: Osage County.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Judi Dench (Best Actress) British actress Dench is up for Best Actress for her role as Philomena Lee in Stephen Frears' Philomena.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Amy Adams (Best Actress) Adams is nominated for Best Actress for her role as Sydney Prosser in American Hustle - here pictured left with Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence.
Francois Duhamel/ Annapurna Productions
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Leonardo DiCaprio (Best Actor) DiCaprio has picked up his fourth Oscar nomination - but will he finally win? - for his performance as debauched stockbroker Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street.
AP
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Chiwetel Ejiofor (Best Actor) British actor Ejiofor has been nominated for an Oscar for his role as Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Matthew McConaughey (Best Actor) McConaughey is up for Best Actor Oscar for his role as an emaciated AIDS patient who smuggles anti-viral drugs into the US in Dallas Buyers Club.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Christian Bale (Best Actor) British actor Bale has earned a nod for his performance as con artist Irving Rosenfeld in American Hustle.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Bruce Dern (Best Actor) Dern, left, is nominated for his role in Nebraska as elderly father Woody Grant who embarks on a trip with his estranged son.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Bradley Cooper (Best Supporting Actor) Cooper, left, has earned an Oscar nod for his supporting role as a wild FBI agent in David O Russell's American Hustle.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Barkhad Abdi (Best Supporting Actor) Abdi is up for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a Somali pirate who hijacks Tom Hanks' ship in Captain Phillips.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Michael Fassbender (Best Supporting Actor) Michael Fassbender, left, is nominated for his role as plantation owner Edwin Epps in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave.
Fox Searchlight
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Jared Leto (Best Supporting Actor) Leto has picked up a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role as a transgender AIDS patient in Dallas Buyers Club.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Jonah Hill (Best Supporting Actor) Hill has earned a nod for his supporting role as a charismatic salesman in The Wolf of Wall Street - pictured here, left, in a scene with Best Actor nominee DiCaprio.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Julia Roberts (Best Supporting Actress) Julia Roberts, here seen embracing Best Actress nominee Meryl Streep, is nominated for her role in August: Osage County.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Jennifer Lawrence (Best Supporting Actress) Lawrence has been nominated for her role as Rosalyn Rosenfeld in American Hustle - she won Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook last year.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Lupita Nyong'o (Best Supporting Actress) Kenyan actress Nyong'o has earned a nod for her role as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave, here pictured with Best Supporting Actor nominee Michael Fassbender.
Associated Press
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees Sally Hawkins (Best Supporting Actress) Sally Hawkins, left, and Andrew Dice Clay in a scene from the Woody Allen film, Blue Jasmine. British actor Hawkins is nominated for her role as Jasmine's sister Ginger.
Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Actress nominees June Squibb (Best Supporting Actress) Squibb is nominated for her role as Kate Grant, wife of Best Actor nominee Bruce Dern's character in Alexander Payne's Nebraska.
He recently gave an impassioned speech about the joy of being an actor at the SAG Awards and is nominated for best actor at this year's Oscars.
Van Sant, whose last two films were Restless and Promised Land , recently made a cameo appearance in Bret Easton Ellis-penned movie The Canyons .
Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club (Picture: AP)
(AP)