According to Deadline, Academy Award-winning British actress Emma Thompson (Burnt) is in negotiations for the starring role in The Children Act.

Helmed by Richard Eyre (Iris) and based on Ian McEwan’s book of the same name, the plot follows High Court judge Fiona Maye, known for both her compassion and wisdom, as she presides over difficult cases in the family division. While professionally successful, her personal life is marked by marital strain and grief over childlessness. She comes across a case of a 17 year-old boy with leukemia who, based on religious values and with the support of his parents, is refusing medical treatment that could save his life. Judge Maye must decide between the teen’s right to choose and its consequences for his future.

Duncan Kenworthy, who worked with Thompson on 2003’s romantic comedy hit Love Actually, is producing.

Thompson has just wrapped up filming on Bridget Jones’s Baby and Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. Another of her features, a comedy entitled Yeh Din Ka Kissa, starring Adam Sandler (Pixels) and Ben Stiller (Zoolander 2), is also in post-production.