According to The Hollywood Reporter, acclaimed Czech director Milos Forman is to direct a film about Spanish grand master Francisco de Goya starring Javier Bardem and Natalie Portman, focusing on one of Spain's most bloody chapters, the Inquisition.

Goya's Ghosts tells the story of the last years of the Spanish Inquisition, when the Church tortured and executed suspected Jews, as told by the painter, played by Stellan Skarsgard.

Portman plays Goya's muse Ines, falsely accused of heresy, while Bardem plays a sinister monk, Brother Lorenzo, the film production company said Wednesday.

The film is Forman's first directing project since 1999's Man on the Moon and filming is due to start in September.