Back in August we highlighted the story that Kenneth Branagh was to turn The Magic Flute into a movie. Now the BBC have more news about the adaptation saying that it will feature...

...a libretto written by his friend, actor Stephen Fry.

The $27m (£15.3m) movie, which will have a cast of young opera stars, will begin filming in the UK in January.

The pair, whose work together includes the 1992 Branagh-directed film Peter's Friends, are giving the opera a World War I setting.

"This is a very exciting departure for me as a filmmaker," said Branagh.

Musical director James Conlon, who was awarded France's Legion d'Honneur in 2001, will conduct the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

I am so excited about this. Branagh is surely one of the unrewarded talents of our time, you just have to look at the quality of the productions he's brought us, sure there are some dubious points in his own acting career, but when you look at what he's created you have to give him a nod. He's an amazing talent. I personally love his Shakespeare adaptations and the British media are far too quick to try and destroy him when he's one of our greatest movie talents.