Beyoncé in Eastwood's 'A Star Is Born'

(AFP / GABRIEL BOUYS)

Clint Eastwood is set to direct and co-produce the latest remake of A Star Is Born with singer Beyoncé in the lead role of the romantic musical, according to Hollywood blog Deadline.

Beyoncé Knowles has starred in the musical film Dreamgirls and the dramatic thriller Obsessed and played Etta James in Cadillac Records.

Eastwood's musical films have included 1982's Honkytonk Man and Bird about jazz legend Charlie "Bird" Parker, and he has scored his movies Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, and Changeling, as well as collaborating with his son Kyle and Jamie Cullum on the music for Gran Torino.

The project has gone through a number of incarnations with either Will Smith or Russell Crowe in the leading role. Also, Nick Cassavetes ( The Notebook) and Joel Schumacher ( The Phantom of the Opera) were both considered as possible directors.

The story focuses on a young singer/actress who is mentored and marries an older star whose career is fading as hers takes off.

This marks the fourth version of the movie: others include the 1937 original with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, the best-known version starring Judy Garland and James Mason from 1954, and rock version from 1976 with Barbra Steisand and Kris Kristofferson.

Eastwood's next project is J. Edgar, a biopic about the controversial head of the FBI, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover as well as Armie Hammer ( The Social Network) and Judi Dench.

RC