Jimmy Franco Courts The "Queen Of The Desert"

James Franco is reportedly going to replace Jude Law in the biopic "Queen Of The Desert" says Deadline.

The film tells the true story of Gertrude Bell (Naomi Watts)--called the female Lawrence of Arabia for the impact she had in the Middle East and her work in establishing what would become the modern framework for Jordan and Iraq. She was an explorer, writer, archeologist and political attache and during World War I worked for British Intelligence.

Robert Pattinson would play British Army officer T. E. Lawrence who was a close friend of Bell's; the pair helped to establish the Hashemite dynasties in Jordan and Iraq. Lawrence's writings were brought to the screen in the 1962 David Lean epic starring Peter O'Toole--"Lawrence of Arabia"

Joining the cast in late 2012, Law was thought to be playing Charles Doughty-Wylie with whom Bell had an unconsummated affair. When he departed, the project ground to a halt.

Bell's life has long been on Hollywood's radar. Angelina Jolie was attached to a Gertrude Bell film last year with Ridley Scott set to direct. The Herzog film is not connected to Scott's feature, which seems to have been pushed for now.

Director Werner Herzog will call action from his script.

Cassian Elwes and Nick N. Raslan will produce the film.

With Franco almost locked, production could begin shortly.