British actress Keira Knightley is set to star in another period drama. The Academy Award nominee will be taking over the leading role for British author Sarah Perry's book "The Essex Serpent's" movie adaptation.

According to Deadline, the movie will be released on Apple TV+ by See-Saw Films, the company behind the movies like "The King's Speech." Directed by Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant) and written by Anna Symon (Mrs. Wilson), the movie features Keira Knightley in the role of Cora.

Set in the year 1893, Cora is a newly widowed woman who moves from London to a small village in Essex after the death of her abusive husband. Here, she is enthralled by a local superstition about mythical creature known as the Essex Serpent. The creature has apparently returned to the area and she wants to learn more about it.

As per the report, Knightley, Barnard, Symon, Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Patrick Walters, Iain Canning, and Emile Sherman will serve as executive producers alongside producer Andrea Cornwell.

The book was released as imprint of Profile Books in the year 2016. With over 200,000 copies sold, the book won the British Book Awards for 2016 Book of the Year and Waterstones Book of the Year.

Meanwhile, this would be the "Colette" star's yet another period drama, the genre that she is known for starring in. Previously, she has played Elizabeth Bennet in "Pride & Prejudice", Cecilia Tallis in "Atonement", Georgiana Cavendish in "The Duchess," and titular characters in "Anna Karenina" and "Colette."

Knightley was last seen in a comedy-drama "Misbehaviour" by Philippa Lowthorpe. Starring alongside the 35-year-old actress, the movie featured Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jessie Buckley, Keeley Hawes, Phyllis Logan, Lesley Manville, Rhys Ifans, and Greg Kinnear.

Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley is thought to be one of the original celebrities to adopt the fish gape pout REUTERS/Andrew Winning

Released by 20th Century Fox, the film tells the story about the 1970's Miss World competition during which women faced several challenges such as sexism and racism. Knightley played the role of a real-life English historian and feminist activist Sally Alexander.

The release date for "The Essex Serpent" is yet to be announced.