Keira Knightley and Alexander Skarsgard are in talks to star in the post-WWII drama, The Aftermath. Following a bidding war, Fox Searchlight acquired the adaptation of the Rhidian Brook novel, which is being produced by Ridley Scott under his Scott-Free production banner. The Aftermath is set in Hamburg, Germany, following the events of the second world war, and centers on a British Colonel who is charged with rebuilding the city. While in Hamburg, the Colonel makes the decision that he and his wife will share their new home with its previous tenants, a widower and his emotionally troubled daughter. James Kent will direct the historical drama, which was adapted for the screen by Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel. The duo wrote the Jesse Owens biopic, Race, and are working on an adaption of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, as well as Warner Bros.' sequel to the Tom Cruise-starrer The Edge of Tomorrow. Skarsgard was in theaters earlier this summer with Warner Bros.' The Legend of Tarzan, and will soon be swinging onto the small screen with Reese Witherspoon's HBO show Little Big Lies. Earlier this week, it was reported that Knightley is in talks to play the Sugar Plum Fairy in Disney's live-action Nutcracker adaptation. The British actress is set to star opposite Will Smith in Dave Frankel's Collateral Beauty. Skarsgard is repped by CAA and Hansen Jacobson, and Knightley is repped by CAA, the U.K.'s United and MGMT. Waterhouse and Shrapnel are repped by CAA, the U.K.'s Curtis Brown and Grandview.

Fitzallan is repped by CAA and the U.K.'s Tavistock Wood.