Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman will play Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhor, respectively, in an HBO movie produced by James Gandolfini.

'Hemingway & Gellhorn' is Gandolfini's passion project. According to Deadline, the 'Sopranos' actor was first attached to star in the film when it was originally pitched as a theatrical feature. He later brought the movie to his old home of HBO under his Attaboy Productions banner.

Filming is set to begin next year in Northern California.

The flick will track Hemingway and Gellhorn's tumultuous love affair and five-year marriage, which spanned the Spanish Civil War. Gellhorn, a novelist and famed war correspondent, is credited with inspiring Hemingway to write his classic novel 'For Whom the Bell Tolls.'

'Hemingway & Gellhorn' marks another high-profile movie project for HBO starring A-list actors, following last year's 'Grey Gardens' with Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore, and Al Pacino's recent 'You Don't Know Jack.'

The cable net plans to continue on the same track with 'Cinema Verite,' an upcoming TV movie staring Diane Lane, Tim Robbins and Gandolfini, and the five-hour miniseries 'Mildred Pierce,' with Kate Winslet and Guy Pierce, which is currently in production.