EXCLUSIVE: The Avengers star Tom Hiddleston will play Country & Western legend Hank Williams in I Saw The Light, a film that Marc Abraham will direct and which has come together as a co-production between RatPac Entertainment, Bron Studios, and Creative Wealth Media Finance, all of which will fund the film. Abraham wrote the script based on the Colin Escott biography of Williams and Aaron L. Gilbert will produce with Brett Ratner, G. Marq Rosell and Abraham. Ratner’s partner, James Packer, will be exec producer.

Production will begin in Louisiana in October, and Hiddleston will sing such Williams standards as “Your Cheatin’ Heart”, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and “Hey Good Lookin’,” after the film’s backers made a deal with Sony ATV to secure rights to the Williams music catalog. The film will tell the story of Williams’ meteoric rise to fame, and the price that fame took on his personal life. He died at age 29 of heart failure.

The British actor has starred in projects as diverse as Midnight In Paris and War Horse, but his starmaking role has been playing Thor’s evil adopted brother Loki in two Thor films and The Avengers. He’s currently shooting the Guillermo del Toro-directed Crimson Peak for Legendary Pictures and Universal. Hamilton Hodell, WME, Authentic and Peikoff Mahan Law Office rep him.

Related: Producing Partners Marc Abraham And Eric Newman Dissolve Strike Entertainment

Abraham, a producer and principal in the production companies Beacon Communications and Strike Entertainment, made his directorial debut on the Greg Kinnear-starrer Flash Of Genius, and he has produced such films as Spy Game, Dawn Of The Dead and Children Of Men. When Abraham and partner Eric Newman dissolved their partnership, Abraham said that directing the Hank Williams film was his top priority. Now, he’s getting to do it in high style.