Russell Crowe, Aisling Franciosi to star in Sam Taylor-Johnson's film Rothko

Filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson has roped in a star-studded cast of Russell Crowe, Aisling Franciosi, Jared Harris and Michael Stuhlbarg for her next feature film, titled Rothko.

The filmmaker's husband and frequent collaborator, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, will also star in the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The movie is about Kate Rothko, daughter of revered US painter Mark Rothko, who was drawn into a well-publicised legal battle to honour her father's legacy and bring his art back to the people.

Crowe, the star of movies like The Gladiator, LA Confidential and A Beautiful Mind, will essay the role of artist Mark Rothko.

Franciosi, known for starring in 2018 movie The Nightingale, will portray Rothko's daughter Kate.

Writer Lara Wood has adapted the film's screenplay from the book The Legacy Of Mark Rothko by Lee Seldes.

Mark Rothko was the celebrated American painter of Lithuanian-Jewish descent who refused to adhere to any art movement, but is generally identified as an abstract expressionist and one of America’s greatest painters of the 20th Century.

He was born in 1903 and died in 1970 from suicide, leaving behind two young children including Kate who had to take up the legal battle aged only 19.

"Rothko is not just a movie about the great artist, but rather a timeless story about right versus wrong. It's Kate Rothko's journey to protect the seminal paintings from the corrupt men who betrayed her father and stole his art; it is a reckoning with men in positions of power who try everything to destroy her father's legacy," Sam Taylor-Johnson said.

The filmmaker's directorial credits include movies like A Million Little Pieces, Nowhere Boy and Fifty Shades of Grey.

Jared Freedman and David Silverton will produce the movie along with Sam Taylor-Johnson and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

The film, which is expected to start shooting soon, will be executive produced by Jonathan Schwartz and Logan Lerman.