Firth and Fassbender take Genius

Colin Firth and Michael Fassbender are to team up for real-life drama Genius.

The two actors are set to star in the big-screen adaptation of A Scott Berg's biography Max Perkins: Editor Of Genius, reported Collider.

Colin, who won an Academy Award for The King's Speech, will portray editor Max, while Shame star Michael will play US novelist Thomas Wolfe in Michael Grandage's movie, which will explore the pair's friendship.

Sean Penn had previously been attached to the role of Max, who was an editor for several literary greats including Ernest Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald.

Written by three-time Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner John Logan, production on Genius is scheduled to begin in early 2014.

Director Michael Grandage said in a statement: "John Logan, Colin Firth and Michael Fassbender is an extraordinary line-up to work with. Together, we can all now look ahead to making this project a reality and bring this amazing story to the attention of audiences everywhere."

Colin, who next stars opposite Cameron Diaz in heist comedy Gambit, will star in The Railway Man with Nicole Kidman and Atom Egoyan's crime thriller The Devil's Knot alongside Reese Witherspoon.

Michael, who recently featured in Prometheus and Haywire, has filmed Steve McQueen's period drama Twelve Years A Slave and will reunite with Ridley Scott on The Counsellor. He is also reported to have a role in Terrence Malick's as-yet-untitled project.