Vin Diesel is planning to direct and star in a biopic of Hannibal Barca, the third century BC Carthaginian general who famously marched an army on elephants across the Alps to conquer the Romans.

Diesel, best know for action roles like 2002's xXx and family comedies such as 2005's The Pacifier, is determined to portray the man widely hailed as one of the best military commanders in history.

He has chosen the Caribbean island of Santo Domingo as a location for filming, a local production company confirmed to the AP news agency last week. Shooting will also take place in California and Spain.

Rumours of a project about Hannibal have been circulating in Hollywood for a long time. After the success of Ridley Scott's Gladiator in 2000, a string of sandals-and-togas epics were developed. Some films, among them Wolfgang Petersen's Troy and the critically derided Alexander by Oliver Stone, saw the light of day. Others, like Michael Mann's take on the battle of Thermopylae starring George Clooney, did not. Ridley Scott was said to be interested in directing a biopic of Hannibal, with Diesel in the title role.

Diesel's take on Hannibal is written by David Franzoni, the screenwriter who penned Gladiator, and is based on fictional memoirs of Hannibal by author Ross Leckie.