Nicole Kidman has reportedly been signed to star in a new film version of CS Lewis' classic children's novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Studio bosses at Disney who are backing the project were desperate for Kidman to play the White Witch, and, according to reports, her two children, Isabella, 11, and Connor, nine, convinced her to say yes.

According to Teenhollywood a studio insider said: "Nicole's kids don't pay great attention to her career - she's just mom to them.

"But when she mentioned she had been asked to star in the movie they went wild. They even asked for jobs as extras."

Kidman even made a secret visit to New Zealand last week to see locations and meet the crew.

Walt Disney chairman Richard Cook recently said of the movie, which is due to start filming later this year: "It's a very, very ambitious project and one that we believe could be very important to the studio."

Source: Press Release