Swank to play aviator

Photo / Reuters

Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank will play Amelia Earhart in a film about the aviation pioneer alongside Hollywood star Richard Gere.

Directed by Indian film-maker Mira Nair, Amelia, which is being filmed in Canada and South Africa, tells the story of the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean before disappearing over the Pacific in 1937 at age 40.

Gere will play Earhart's husband, George Putnam, industry newspaper Variety reports.