Banderas to play Gianni Versace

Antonio Banderas. Photo: Bang ShowbizAntonio Banderas has been cast as slain Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace in a new film. 

The 55-year-old actor is set to play the designer in an upcoming movie directed by Danish film director Bille August, and is set to begin shooting the production in December this year, although details of the plot have yet to be revealed. 

The luxury designer brand said it had not "authorised" the upcoming project and did not have any involvement in the production.

Speaking to WWD.com about the project, the Italian fashion group said: "The movie should only be seen as a work of fiction."

It is believed filming will take place in the Italian city of Milan before moving to Reggio Calabria situated in the south of the island, which is where the creative mastermind was born.

There will also be filming in Miami in America, where the 50-year-old was shot outside his home in 1997. The man who murdered him died eight days later.