Colin Firth is to play amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst in an upcoming biopic.

Blueprint Pictures and BBC Films will produce the true story of Crowhurst's attempt to win the first World Yacht Race in 1968, Dighital Spy reports citing Deadline.

The Theory of Everything director James Marsh will helm the project, which will begin shooting in the spring.

The film will be produced by Pete Czernin, Graham Broadbent and Scott Z Burns, with Burns writing the script.

Crowhurst died while competing in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, after entering in hopes of winning a cash prize to fund his failing business.

He secretly abandoned the race while reporting false positions, in order to complete a circumnavigation without circling the world. His logs made during his voyage indicated that he suffered a mental breakdown and eventually jumped overboard.

His story has been the subject of many documentaries, films, songs and stage plays, including Daniel Bryan's 2004 play Almost A Hero.