Knightley to play princess Diana?

Keira Knightley

Actress Keira Knightley is being lined up to play Diana, Princess of Wales in a movie based on the late British royal's life.

A controversial book, Diana and the Paparazzi, was at the center of a bidding war at this year's Cannes Film Festival in France.

Film producer Quentin Reynolds, who is bidding for the rights, hopes the movie adaptation will be as popular at the box office as The Queen, which won Helen Mirren a Best Actress Oscar.

He says, "Already the word in Hollywood is 'get Knightley.' It's a story that has everything: pathos, tragedy, comedy, adventure...and Princess Diana.

"For every pound The Queen makes, a film about Diana will make ten."