Joseph Gordon-Levitt cast in To Walk the Clouds

Joseph Gordon-Levitt [Photo/Agencies]

Joseph Gordon-Levitt set To Reach The Clouds

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The 33-year-old actor has been cast in the forthcoming film which is based on Philippe Pettit's memoir of the same name, according to deadline.com.

Gordon-Levitt will play Pettit, the daring high-wire artist who was catapulted to the spotlight after he walked a tightrope between the Twin Towers in New York in 1974.

Pettit has performed tightrope walks in other famed places including between the towers of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris as well as walking a wire between the two north pylons of Sydney Harbour Bridge.

'Forrest Gump' filmmaker Robert Zemeckis is helming the project which he is also producing alongside ImageMovers partners Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey, in addition to co-writing the script with Christopher Browne.

Production for the film will begin in May and it will be shot in 3D.

James Marsh's award-winning documentary film 'Man on Wire', which was released in 2008, is also based on book 'To Reach the Clouds'.

It won the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film, the Independent Spirit Awards, and the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2009.

Gordon-Levitt is set to hit the big screen later this year for 'Sin City: A Dame to Kill For' and for the English dubbed version of Japanese adventure 'The Wind Rises'.