Antonio Banderas to play blind opera superstar Andrea Bocelli's mentor in biopic

Antonio Banderas has signed on to portray blind opera singer Andrea Bocelli's mentor in a new movie.

The famous Italian tenor wrote about his extraordinary life in 2002's The Music of Silence, an autobiographical novel written through the voice of the singer/songwriter's fictional alter ego, Amos, and now the book is coming to the big screen, with The Mask of Zorro star set to take on the role of Maestro, the opera legend's mysterious music mentor.

Bocelli's alter ego will be played by Game of Thrones star Tony Sebastian, with Jordi Molla, Luisa Ranieri and Oscar-nominee Ennio Fantastichini rounding out the cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

British filmmaker Michael Radford, who is best known for beloved 1994 Italian movie Il Postino (The Postman) and 2004's The Merchant of Venice, has signed on to direct the Bocelli film, and he'll also produce the project with representatives from Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi's AMBI Group.

The Music of Silence script was adapted for the screen by Anna Pavignano, Radford and Bocelli himself.

The film is expected to cover many of the life events that led Bocelli to his career as one of the most beloved classical singers of all time, selling over 80 million records worldwide. And the soundtrack is expected to feature songs the singer wrote as a young man but never released.

Bocelli's deeply personal book detailed his childhood and the soccer accident that robbed him of his sight at the age of 12. Diagnosed with congenital glaucoma, he went blind after he was hit in the eye while playing goalkeeper, and suffered a brain haemorrhage.

Principal photography for the movie is scheduled to begin in Rome, Italy later this month (Nov16).