MUMBAI: In his bid to tackle the subject of slavery, Brad Pitt is working on the screen adaptation of Twelve Years a Slave, an autobiography written in 1853 by Solomon Northup under his Plan B banner.

And to direct the film, Pitt has entrusted Steve McQueen with the responsibility to helm the film. British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor will play the role of Northup.
 
Northup was a married and educated free black man living in New York when two men approached him with a job offer in Washington. When he showed up in D.C., he was kidnapped and put in a slave pen, paving the way to his grueling life under numerous owners.

Northup was able to secure his freedom when a white carpenter from Canada, who didn‘t believe in slavery, was able to smuggle out letters to Northup‘s wife, initiating a court case that saw him set free.
 
Currently, Plan B is in pre-production on the big-budget adaptation of the Max Brooks novel World War Z that is slated for a 21 December release.