Julie Taymor, director of Across the Universe (2007) and Frida (2002), will direct a Gloria Steinem biopic, Deadline reports. The film, which will be written by playwright Sarah Ruhl and based on Steinem’s memoir, will be a “coming-of-age story” about the feminist and activist. It will focus on her growth as an activist and look at the “surprising encounters along the road that helped shape her”.

Speaking to Deadline, Steinem said, “I can’t imagine anyone more magical than Julie Taymor – or more understanding than Lynn Hendee and Sarah Ruhl. So now that we are on this journey together, I hope and believe the result will encourage many more travellers – especially women in all our diverse realities – to tell our own stories.”

Taymor has directed a biopic before, in 2002, with Frida, a film about artist Frida Kahlo’s life and death. Her other most well-known work, Across the Universe, is a “jukebox musical romantic drama film” that incorporates 34 compositions by The Beatles into its story. On her decision to take on the Steinem story, Taymor said, “when I read the book, it demanded that it be a film. It’s so vividly cinematic, with entertaining and complex characters and, like Gloria herself, also witty and provocative. From reluctant spokesperson to a beacon of positive change, hers is a singular journey – an American leader who can speak to us all.”

As of right now, there is no release date or further information on the film. In the meantime, revisit our secret history of Steinem's time as an undercover Playboy Bunny.