Helen Mirren to Star in Developing Film Set in Gaza

According to Variety, Academy Award-winning actress Dame Helen Mirren will start as "a Jewish woman whose journalist daughter falls in love with a Palestinian and is shot dead" in a developing untitled film.

The film is directed by Philip Martin with a screenplay by Frank Deasy, who recently worked with Mirren in the celebrated TV series "Prime Suspect."

Left Bank Pictures produces, a new company by Andrew Harris, who also produced The Queen, for which Mirren won the 2006 Academy Award for her role as Queen Elizabeth II.

"Plans to [film] in Gaza have been shelved following the kidnapping of BBC journalist Alan Johnson and general lack of security in the troubled territory," states Variety, "Producers will likely move production to neighboring Jordan."

Mirren won international recognition for performances spanning four decades.  For her role as Queen Elizabeth II in Miramax's The Queen, Mirren won an Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA and Critic's Choice Award.  In addition, she was named Best Actress by every critic's organization from Los Angeles to London.  For HBO, she portrayed Queen Elizabeth I in the miniseries "Elizabeth I."  She won an Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award for that role.  Mirren also reprised her long-running character Detective Jane Tennison in "Prime Suspect: The Final Act," the last installment in the PBS series.  The performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination.  The character previously won her an Emmy and three BAFTA Awards.