British director John Boorman is resurrecting his longstanding project on the life of Roman Emperor Hadrian, most famous for building the eponymous wall that separated England and Scotland, according to Variety.

U.K.-based Handmade Films has boarded the $50 million-$60 million project and will be fully financing Hadrian. Rome-based Olympus Films will co-produce.

Boorman, as well as Handmade chairman Patrick Meehan and Olympus head Enzo Peri, who acquired the rights to Marguerite Yourcenar's bestselling novel "Memoirs of Hadrian," are casting the lead role.

Principal photography is set to start next spring in Morocco, Rome and Spain.