According to The Hollywood Reporter, Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman are in negotiations to topline Touchstone Pictures' The Prestige, which will serve as Christopher Nolan's next directorial outing.

Bale and Jackman will play rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London who battle each other for trade secrets. The rivalry is so intense that it turns them into murderers. The title refers to the residue left after a magician's successful trick.

The script is based on Christopher Priest's 1996 novel of the same name and was adapted by Nolan's brother, Jonathan. He wrote the short story on which Christopher's Nolan's breakout movie, Memento, was based on.

Prestige reteams Bale with Nolan, both of whom worked on Batman Begins.