Los Angeles - Barbra Streisand is to direct her first movie for nearly 20 years.
The 73-year-old singer/songwriter and filmmaker has signed up to helm Catherine The Great, which will be the first time she has sat in the director's chair since helming The Mirror Has Two Faces in 1996.
The motion picture will be taken from a script written by Kristina Lauren Anderson, who won the 2014 Black List prize for unproduced screenplays.
Casting is underway now that Streisand is on board and Gil Netter - who has worked on Life of Pi and The Blind Side - is set to produce.
The movie will tell the story of Catherine becoming great after she seizes power in Russia in 1762. Trapped in an abusive marriage, it soon becomes clear her husband is incapable of leading the country so she takes on the role.
Streisand's three directed films, Yentl, The Prince of Tides and The Mirror Has Two Faces, have been nominated for an incredible 14 Academy Awards.
She won a Golden Globe award for Best Director for 1983 movie Yentl, in which she also portrayed the titular character.