Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan to star in Ammonite'

Actors Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan will headline the cast of period romance "Ammonite".

The film has been penned by Francis Lee, the writer and director of critically acclaimed gay drama "God's Own Country". He will also direct the new project, reported Variety.

The film's story is set in a UK coastal town in the 1820s and follows an unlikely romance between palaeontologist Mary Anning and a London woman of means to whom she must unexpectedly play nursemaid.

The project hails from See-Saw Films production's Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, the producers of "Widows", "Lion" and "The King's Speech". Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly will also produce the project.

See-Saw Films developed the project with the BFI and BBC Films.

Winslet, 43, recently wrapped production on James Cameron's "Avatar 2" and is currently filming Roger Michell's drama "Blackbird".

Ronan, 24, most recently starred alongside Margot Robbie in "Mary Queen of Scots". She will be next seen in "Little Women", which marks her reunion with her "Lady Bird" director Greta Gerwig.