Jennifer Lawrence to play war photographer Lynsey Addario in new Steven Spielberg film, reports

Jennifer Lawrence is reportedly trading Katniss Everdeen's quiver of arrows for a camera to play Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario in an upcoming movie directed by Steven Spielberg.

• AUDIO | Photographer Lynsey Addario on war reporting while female

According to industry publication Deadline.com, Warner Bros. won a bidding war for the movie rights to Addario's memoir It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life Of Love And War.

The book generated a wave of interest when it was published last month and excerpts were printed in The New York Times Magazine.

Oscar-winning Saving Private Ryan director Steven Spielberg has signed on to helm the project which will be produced by American Sniper producer Andrew Lazar.

Universal Studios-owned, British production company Working Title was reportedly also trying to secure the rights with Wild actress Reese Witherspoon to play the lead, while Noah director Darren Aronofsky was apparently bidding with Black Swan star Natalie Portman in mind.

Other bidders included The Weinstein Company on behalf of George Clooney and Grant Heslov with Wolf Of Wall Street's Margot Robbie as Addario.

Kidnapped and beaten

In her two decades as a photojournalist, Addario has covered some of the world's most dangerous conflict zones, including the Taliban in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, Somalia and the Darfur region of Sudan. 

Three weeks into the Libyan uprising of 2011, the American-born photographer was among four New York Times journalists to be kidnapped by pro-Gadhafi forces and beaten and blindfolded for six days.

In her memoir, the 41-year-old describes how one of her captors "caressed my face like a lover," while repeating the same Arabic words over and over. 

"Slowly he ran his hands over my hair and spoke to me in a slow, steady voice," reads​ an excerpt.

"What is he saying, Anthony?" she asked one of her fellow captives. "Anthony took his time in answering. 'He's telling you that you will die tonight.'"

It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life Of Love And War is published by Penguin Press. There is no production timeline available for Spielberg's adaptation starring Lawrence.