Charlize Theron has signed on to star in THE BURNING PLAIN, the directorial debut of BABEL and 21 GRAMS writer Guillermo Arriaga. The Oscar-nominated writer had collaborated with Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu on the aforementioned films but the two had a nasty fued during BABEL that led to Arriaga being forbidden from attending the Cannes Film Festival (the argument stemmed from Arriaga’s assertion that he was responsible for 95% of 21 GRAMS). So Arriaga decided to write one for himself to direct. In the film, Theron will star as a woman trying to make peace with her parents after a troubled childhood. Like Arriaga’s other scripts, Theron’s will be one of a couple of stories that intertwine and deal with love, forgiveness and redemption. Mark Cuban owned 2929 Productions will finance the film, expected to be less than $20 million, with Theron taking an exec producing credit. Filming on BURNING is scheduled to begin this November. Theron can be seen next in IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH and BATTLE IN SEATTLE.