In an intriguing star pairing, Twilight sensation Robert Pattinson is teaming with Nicole Kidman to star in Bel Ami, the film of Guy De Maupassant’s erotically charged story of ambition, power and seduction.

Multi-award winning UK theatre directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod are directing from a screenplay by Rachel Bennette.

London-based Protagonist has taken on international sales to the film.

Uberto Pasolini (The Full Monty) will produce, with Simon Fuller of 19 Entertainment acting as executive producer.The film will shoot in London and Budapest from February 2010.

Donnellan and Ormerod, whose Cheek By Jowl is widely regarded as one of the most influential theatre companies in the world, will make their feature debut with this story about a young man’s rise to the top of Parisian high society in the 1890s, via the beds of the city’s most glamorous and influential women.

In a world where politics and media jostle for influence, where sex is power and celebrity an obsession, the film has, say the producers, a contemporary relevance which should resonate with audiences worldwide.

Bel Ami is a Redwave Films production in association with 19 Entertainment, Protagonist Pictures and RaiCinema. RAI has Italian rights. All other territories will be sold by Protagonist, which has already commenced pre-sales on the film.