Curtis Hanson, the Oscar-winning director behind LA Confidential and Wonder Boys has agreed to direct Eminem's film debut.

It will be a fictional film about a troubled Detroit rapper's life who finds his voice through hip-hop. The director has insisted that the film will not be based on Eminem's life, saying, "This story will only be as good as Eminem's performance, not how good he is as a musical performer but how good he is dramatically."

Hanson told Variety magazine, "Helping him adapt his talents to the screen is one of the things about this project that excites me. Working with actors is what I like best about directing and Eminem is an extraordinarily gifted artist, one who's already shown an ability to project personas and identities."

He continued, "This captures the angst, insecurity, frustration and anger, search for direction and identity. That to me is what the best version of this movie is all about."

Jimmy Iovine, president of Interscope, the rapper's record label, will co-produce the film. He believes that Eminem's lyrics are about "really powerful subjects".

The film has not yet been named.