Giamatti set to star in 'Barney's Version'

LOS ANGELES, April 23 (UPI) -- U.S. actor Paul Giamatti is set to star in the big-screen adaptation of "Barney's Version," the late Mordecai Richler's last novel.

Giamatti, who recently won a boatload of awards for playing the title role in the TV miniseries "John Adams," has also starred in the films "American Splendor," "Sideways," "Lady in the Water" and "Cinderella Man."

Variety.com said Richard J. Lewis, who has helmed 50 episodes of "CSI," will begin directing "Version" from a screenplay written by Michael Konyves.

The film about a thrice-married man who is regarded by investigators as a person of interest in his friend's disappearance will be shot in Rome, Montreal, Quebec's Laurentian Mountains and New York, starting in August, the entertainment industry trade newspaper said.