Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) and Tom Wilkinson (The Grand Budapest Hotel) have joined the upcoming holocaust drama Denial. The script, by Oscar-nominated screenwriter David Hare (The Reader), is an adaptation of the Deborah E. Lipstadt book History on Trial: My Day in Court With a Holocaust Denier and follows the libel lawsuit filed by David Irving against Lipstadt after she claimed Irving was a Holocaust denier.

Swank will play Lipstadt, while Wilkinson is set to play Irving. Swank has been missing from mainstream movies in recent years, despite starring in two movies last year, one of which was the Tommy Lee Jones-directed The Homesman. Tom Wilkinson, on the other hand, continues to stay in the spotlight as one of the most prominent character actors today. He was recently in the Vince Vaughn comedy Unfinished Business and was in two of last year’s most acclaimed movies, Selma and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Given the subject matter and Hare’s pedigree, there is likely hope that this will make waves during awards season, though that will be up to the distributor who buys the movie after it goes to market at Cannes next month. Mick Jackson (The Bodygaurd) is attached to direct.

We’ll have more on this project as it develops in the coming months.