Ammonite: Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan to play lovers in historical drama

Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan are set to star in romance Ammonite.

The film is set to be written and directed by Francis Lee, who made a splash last year with his debut God's Own Country, another romance which follows a young sheep farmer in Yorkshire (Josh O'Connor) whose life is transformed by a Romanian migrant worker (Alec Secăreanu).

The film was nominated for Outstanding British Film at this year's BAFTAs, with O'Connor also being nominated for the Rising Star Award.

According to Deadline, Ammonite will be set in a UK coastal town in the 1840s, following the unlikely romance between palaeontologist Mary Anning and a wealthy London woman to whom she must unexpectedly play nursemaid.

The project already has some prestigious backing, as it was developed by See-Saw, the BFI and BBC Films. Widows and Lion producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, alongside Lady Macbeth producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, will serve as producers on the project.

Production is set to start in March. Winslet recently completed work on James Cameron's Avatar sequel, which is set for release in 2020.

Ronan stars alongside Margot Robbie in Mary Queen of Scots, which traces the conflict between two of the 16th century's most formidable queens, as Mary developed an uneasy alliance with her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England. The film is set for release in UK cinemas on 18 January 2019.

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