Actress Angelina Jolie will star in a movie as the widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, trade paper Daily Variety reported in its Thursday edition.

A Mighty Heart, adapted from Mariane Pearl's memoir of the same name, will begin shooting within the next five weeks, the paper said.

The book details Pearl's search for her husband, who was abducted and beheaded by militants in Pakistan in early 2002.

"I am delighted that Angelina Jolie will be playing my role in the adaptation of my book," Daily Variety quoted Pearl as saying. "I deeply admire her work and what she is committed to."

English filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, famed for such war-based films as Welcome to Sarajevo and The Road to Guantanamo, will direct.

Jolie's boyfriend, actor Brad Pitt, will serve as a producer of the project, which is set up at Paramount Vantage, the art-house arm of Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures.