Nicole Kidman in talks to play Lucille Ball in Aaron Sorkin movie

Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem are in talks to portray I Love Lucy co-stars and real-life married couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in Aaron Sorkin's next movie.

The pair are reportedly in negotiations to play Ball and Arnaz, who famously played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo in the pioneering 1950s sitcom, in Sorkin's movie Being the Ricardos.

According to Deadline, Sorkin was originally going to simply write the screenplay but he's now set to also direct the movie for Amazon Studios and the Escape Artists production company.

Being the Ricardos will depict the relationship between the I Love Lucy stars and be set during one production week of the sitcom, from the Monday table read through to filming in front of a studio audience on the Friday. During that week, Ball and Arnaz face challenges that could end their careers as well their marriage, which ended in divorce in 1960 after 20 years.

Variety reports that the former couple's children Lucie and Desi Jr. will serve as executive producers on the project, alongside Escape Artists’ Jenna Block and David Bloomfield, and Stuart Besser and Lauren Lohman. Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch of Escape Artists will also produce.

Fellow Australian actress Cate Blanchett was previously circling the role of Ball when The West Wing creator Sorkin was attached only as a screenwriter. However, he decided to direct too over the summer and the project gained momentum after his latest movie, The Trial of the Chicago 7, debuted on Netflix to acclaim in October.

Kidman recently wrapped production on Robert Eggers' The Northman and is set to star in TV series Nine Perfect Strangers, based on the novel by Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty, while Bardem is set to play King Triton in Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.