Oliver Hirschbiegel, the German director of the acclaimed movie "Downfall" about Adolf Hitler's last days, is to direct Nicole Kidman in the sci-fi thriller "Invasion", according to Hollywood Reporter.

The movie focuses on a mysterious epidemic that alters the behaviour of human beings.

Kidman plays a Washington psychiatrist who discovers that its origins are extraterrestrial. She must fight to protect her son, who may hold the key to stopping the invasion.

The movie started out as a remake of the horror classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" but then morphed into its own original story, the report said.

"It's a very insidious story about how the end of the world can come through science and disease and not through explosions," said producer Joel Silver.