KARACHI: Hollywood actor, director and producer Angelina Jolie is reportedly set to direct a new biopic film called "Unbroken" for Universal Pictures. The biopic will be based on the life of World War II veteran Louis Zamperini.

The film's script will be based on the New York Times bestselling book "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption" by Laura Hillenbrand. The most recent draft of the film was penned by Oscar-nominated "Les Miserables" screenwriter William Nicholson.

The book follows the courageous life story of Olympian-turned-war-hero Louis Zamperini who survived in a raft for 47 days and was sent to a prisoner of war camp with two other crewmen, after a near-fatal plane crash in World War II.

The biopic will bring Jolie in the director's chair a second time. She previously directed "In the Land of Blood and Honey", in 2011.

According to sources, when the actress read the book she was so impressed with the heroic story of Zamperini that she "began to fight for the opportunity to make the film".

Jolie will supervise the development of a final script before going into production on the film sometime next year.