The Coen brothers are writing the script for Angelina Jolie's next directing project, Unbroken.

Angelina, who made her directorial debut in 2011 with Bosnian war drama In The Land Of Blood And Honey, is set to direct the World War II drama based on Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken: A World War II Story Of Survival, Resilience And Redemption.

Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar-winning writers Joel and Ethan Coen have signed up to write the script.

The film - which tells the true story of former Olympian and WWII bombardier Louis Zamperini - has been in the works since Universal acquired the book rights in January 2011.

Francis Lawrence, who directed I Am Legend and Water For Elephants and is in charge of The Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire, had been attached to the director's role.

Angelina took over the project in December, and was planning to "oversee" the fine-tuning of the script, which had been drafted by Les Miserables screenwriter William Nicholson.

Zamperini was a Los Angeles high school track star who raced in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In 1943, his plane crashed in the Pacific. He managed to survive without food and water for 47 days, enduring shark attacks and air attacks, before washing ashore on a Japanese island behind enemy lines, where he was held as a prisoner of war and tortured for two years.

The Coen brothers worked with Angelina's fiance Brad Pitt on comedy thriller Burn After Reading.