Jessica Chastain is 'The Zookeeper's Wife'

To say that Jessica Chastain has been on a rocket sled to stardom is a massive understatement. Her rise to fame has been nothing short of extraordinary, taking off suddenly after back-to-back-to-back turns in Take Shelter, The Tree of Life, and The Help. Ever since then, she's become one of Hollywood's most reliable actresses, nearly taking home Best Actress for Zero Dark Thirty. While she remains extremely busy, Chastain has found room to add one more major project to her schedule.

Chastain will star in The Zookeeper's Wife, an adaptation of Diane Ackerman's novel about Jan and Antonina Zabinski, a real-life couple who ran the Warsaw Zoo. During the Nazi invasion of Poland, the Zabinskis took in more than 300 fleeing Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, hiding them in empty cages and even in their own home. New Zealand director Niki Caro will be behind the camera, best known for her work on Whale Rider and North Country.

There's no word on when filming could begin, but Chastain has Guillermo Del Toro's gothic horror Crimson Peak shooting early next year. She'll be seen next in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby opposite James McAvoy. [THR]