Brittany Murphy is in negotiations to star in "The White Hotel," a long-in-the-works adaptation of the acclaimed D.M. Thomas novel.
The story centers on an opera singer (Murphy) who seeks out the services of Sigmund Freud in post-World War I Vienna. Haunted by hallucinatory dreams about a white hotel, she becomes Freud's famous case study Anna G. Together, they unlock the key to figuring out her memories and her premonitions of the future, which include the Holocaust.
Simon Monjack is directing the movie from his own script.
The novel has had a long, storied journey to the screen. Barbra Streisand, Meryl Streep, Isabella Rossellini and Nicole Kidman have been associated with the movie.
A spring shoot in Vienna and Prague is being eyed.
Murphy can be heard on the big screen voicing the character of Gloria in "Happy Feet," and appears in Karen Moncrieff's "The Dead Girl."