Jackson to play pirate negotiator

Samuel L. Jackson will star in a movie about Andrew Mwangura, the man who acted as a negotiator between pirates and ship owners during the recent hijacking off the coast of Africa.

According to Variety, Jackson and H20 Motion Pictures have acquired the movie rights to Mwangura's life story with a view to the Snakes On A Plane star taking on the lead role.

Mwangura is a freelance journalist and runs humanitarian organisation the Seafarers' Assistance Programme. He secured the freedom of the V.S. Faina crew for $3.4 million, taking no fee for his work.

"Andrew has the trust of the pirates and the ship owners, and his loyalty is to the kidnapped crews that get caught in the middle of these episodes," said H20's Andras Hamori.

Jackson is currently working on Iron Man 2, reprising his role as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury, and will next star in Unthinkable with Michael Sheen.