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Emile Hirsch to play John Belushi in biopic

Emile Hirsch will play John Belushi in biopic film.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - OCTOBER 17: Actor Emile Hirsch attends Focus Features' 'Dallas Buyers Club' premiere at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on October 17, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (AP) - Emile Hirsch will play John Belushi in a biopic on the comedian.

Production company Film 360 confirmed Monday the casting of Hirsch in the currently untitled independent feature. Directing will be Steve Conrad, who wrote the screenplay of the upcoming Ben Stiller film, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." Conrad will also pen the screenplay, adapting the biography "Belushi."

The 28-year-old Hirsch has starred in Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" and the 2008 action film "Speed Racer." He co-starred earlier this year with Paul Rudd in David Gordon Green's "Prince Avalanche," and also co-stars in the upcoming Navy SEAL war film "Lone Survivor."

Production on the film is planned to begin in the spring.

One of the original "Saturday Night Live" cast members, Belushi starred in "The Blues Brothers" and "National Lampoon's Animal House" before dying at the age of 33 in 1982.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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