According to a report by Variety, there is a new film musical in the works. Benjamin Millepied, choreographer of 2010 film Black Swan, will direct/choreograph the film, and Nicholas Britell, composer for last year’s Moonlight, will create the music. The project is said to be a modern adaptation of Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen. The film will be based around a woman who travels from the deserts of Mexico to Los Angeles in search of freedom.

Darius Khondji, the cinematographer of The Lost City of Z and Midnight in Paris, will be the director of photography, while producers Dimitri Rassam (The Little Prince) and Helen Estabrook (Whiplash) will be producing the film.

Rassam made the following comments about the upcoming project:

Benjamin’s vision of ‘Carmen’ is intense and compelling, as is illustrated by the exceptional quality of the creative team he has assembled to accompany him on his directorial debut. His ‘Carmen’ embraces the visceral strength of the original work of Bizet, one of the most successful operas still today, whilst offering a powerful, contemporary and original cinematographic journey.

Millepied said the following of his feature directorial debut:

I’m beyond grateful to be supported by the film community in my directing debut. The incorporation of music and dance in film is a cornerstone of my creativity and having such an experienced and talented team by my side gives me confidence that we will beautifully capture the story told in ‘Carmen’.

Britell, who received an Oscar nomination for Moonlight, said the following about collaborating with Millepied:

For many years, Benjamin and I have spoken about integrating film, music, and dance on a grand scale. With ‘Carmen’, we will truly have the opportunity to do so.

Millepied is currently the artistic director and founder of L.A. Dance Project. He previously served as the director of the Paris Opera Ballet. The 2015 feature documentary Reset followed the creative process of his first ballet for the Paris Opera. He directed his first short film in 2015 called Hearts and Arrows. Along with Black Swan, he has worked on French animated film Leap!, as well as provided dance sequences for animated films Barbie in the Nutcracker and Barbie of Swan Lake.

There is no word yet on whether his wife Natalie Portman will be involved. The two met on the set of Black Swan, and married in 2012. They have two children together, with Portman being pregnant during award seasons for both Black Swan in 2011, and Jackie in 2017.

The film will begin filming in Los Angeles in early 2018.