Filmmaker Mira Nair will direct Swank in Amelia, which begins shooting in April.
Swank, 33, will play Amelia Earhart in the beginning of her career, when George Putnam, a publicist, organised her first Atlantic Ocean crossing. When he decides to turn it into a media event, it becomes a significant piece of history.
The screenplay was written by Ron Bass, who finished writing just before the Writer’s Strike. It is based on the books "East to the Dawn," by Susan Butler, "The Sound of the Wings," by Mary Lovell, and "Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved," by Elgin Long.