A NEW star-studded film about Dorset fossil hunter Mary Anning is expected to start production next year.

Hollywood actresses Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan will star in Ammonite, which reportedly follows a fictitious relationship between the famous fossil hunter and another woman.

It is not yet known which characters the stars will play.

The film will be set in 1840s England and follow Anning as she becomes a nursemaid for a wealthy woman from London, reports entertainment site Deadline.

The historical drama has been developed by See-Saw Films, the British Film Institute and BBC Films and will be written and directed by Francis Lee.

Lee is best known for his 2017 film, God’s Own Country, a story about the gay relationship between a Yorkshire farmer and a migrant worker from Romania.

Ronan recently appeared in an adaptation of Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach, filmed on location here in Dorset.

A pioneering palaeontologist years ahead of her time, Anning was the first to discover the ichthyosaur, a complete skeleton of a plesiosaur and the first pterosaur (pterodactyl) outside Germany.

But the scientific community was reluctant to recognise her achievements and men would take credit for her work.

There have been growing calls to acknowledge Anning’s achievements and contributions to science; earlier this month, the News reported she has been nominated to appear on the new £50 note.

Production of Ammonite is expected to start in March and it is hoped filming will take place in Lyme Regis.