Jack O'Connell to play Alexander McQueen in biopic

An actor best known for his role as badboy James Cook in Skins and his movie roles in Unbroken and Money Monster, O’Connell will play McQueen at the time that he created one of his last and most infamous collections.

Directing the biopic will be Andrew Haigh (45 Years), and the film will focus on Horn of Plenty, McQueen’s retrospective 2009 collection that was inspired by his career. McQueen killed himself aged 40 on the eve of his mother’s funeral the following year.

The film does not yet have a title but will be based on Andrew Wilson's 2015 biography of McQueen, Blood Beneath The Skin.

It will be set in the months leading up to a 2009 fashion show in which McQueen re-worked his designs from the previous 15 years.

"It was a show that he dedicated to his mother and one in which he tried to make sense of his life and art," a statement from Pathe said.

"The film explores McQueen's creative process in the months leading up to the show, providing an intimate portrait of the man behind the global brand - a moving celebration of a visionary genius whose designs transcended fashion to become art."

Filming will start next spring.