Vin Diesel To Star As 'Hannibal'

Vin Diesel is to star as Hannibal, the third century B.C. Carthaginian general who rode an elephant across the Alps to attack Rome, reports Variety.

Revolution has acquired screen rights to the Ross Leckie novel "Hannibal" for a film that Diesel and his One Race Prods. partner George Zakk will produce.

While mounting an elephant seems easy in comparison to an ambitious period picture -- Fox has a good head start on a David Klass-penned Hannibal project that has caught the eye of Denzel Washington -- Revolution execs vow to hire an A-list scribe quickly and be in production by next year. They expect Diesel to make the film before its "XXX" sequel.

In Hannibal, Revolution and Diesel have seized upon a noteworthy historical figure who was as crafty a battlefield tactician as "Braveheart" protagonist William Wallace. After swearing to his warrior father an oath of hatred for the Romans, Hannibal became by his mid-20s a Carthage general commanding an army 100,000 strong. He unleashed those forces on Rome and its allies, conquering such venues as Spain before engineering a surprise attack against Rome by trekking his armies over the Alps.