Misty Copeland to star in Disney's live-action 'Nutcracker'

NEW YORK, July 14 (UPI) -- Misty Copeland will star in a forthcoming Disney adaptation of The Nutcracker.

The 33-year-old ballerina announced the news Wednesday by posting a photo of her script on Instagram.

"I'm thrilled to be a part of this amazing project with Disney and the wonderful Lasse Hallstrom. #TheNutcracker #MoreToCome," she wrote.

The movie, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, is based on E.T.A. Hoffman's 1816 short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Ashleigh Powell adapted the story, with Hallstrom (Chocolat) to direct.

A Disney spokesperson told the New York Times Copeland will play "the lead ballerina role" but did not offer more details about the character. The live-action movie has yet to set a release date.

Hoffman's story was most famously adapted as a ballet with music by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky. Copeland played an adult version of Clara in an American Ballet Theatre production of the ballet in 2014.

Copeland joined the American Ballet Theatre in 2000 and was named a principal dancer in July 2015. The ballerina is the first female African-American dancer to hold the position in the company.