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Josh Hartnett in talks to star in Black Dahlia

Josh Hartnett is in talks to star in The Black Dahlia - an adaptation of the classic noir novel by James Ellroy.

The film is about the notorious murder of an actress in Los Angeles in 1947.

The mystery begins in the late 1940s, when the body of Elizabeth Short is discovered with evidence she had been tortured for several days before dying.

Hartnett would play an LAPD officer who becomes obsessed with the victim.

The movie will be directed by Brian De Palma, replacing David Fincher who dropped out earlier this year, reports Production Weekly.