— as author Ayn Rand’s iconic heroine Dagney Taggart. Jolie, a longtime fan of Russianborn Rand, has been quietly campaigning to play Taggart in new film Atlas Shrugged — and now she’s landed the role, according to trade newspaper Daily Variety.

Her partner Brad Pitt is also rumoured to be closing on a deal to appear in the movie as the main protagonist John Galt, who fights against an overriding trend in which the world’s most productive minds are disappearing.

The project sets up a busy 12 months for Jolie, whose next movie will be another epic adaptation, Beowulf.

She’ll also be seen alongside Matt Damon in The Good Shepherd and star with Pitt in the adaptation of Mariane Pearl’s book about the kidnap and murder of her husband, journalist Daniel Pearl.