Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) is set to direct a historical epic about the the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the sixteenth century.

Brian Helgeland (Mystic River) will write the script for the film, reports Variety.

The date on which Howard will begin the project is unconfirmed, though it is said to be a priority when he has finished working on his big-sceen adaptation of Dan Brown's best-seller, The Da Vinci Code.