Actress Nicole Kidman has joined the cast of Lionsgate's drama The Railway Man, replacing Rachel Weisz. We reported back in November that Rachel Weisz signed on, but she was forced to depart the project due to additional shooting on both The Bourne Legacy and Oz: The Great and Powerful.

The Railway Man is based on Eric Lomax's autobiography, which chronicles his terrifying experiences as a World War II prisoner of war, and his quest to reconcile with one of his captors 30 years later. Colin Firth is playing Eric Lomax, and Nicole Kidman will play his wife, Patti, who helped her husband come to terms with the psychological damage he endured in a Japanese POW camp. Jeremy Irvine will play the younger Eric Lomax during flashback scenes.

Jonathan Teplitzky (Burning Man) is directing The Railway Man from an adapted screenplay by Andy Paterson and Frank Cottrell Boyce. Production will begin in April, shooting in Scotland for present-day scenes, and the Gold Coast of Australia for World War II scenes.