Forest Whitaker could be returning to big screen glory as Desmond Tutu in The Archbishop And The Antichrist.

The Oscar-winning actor is in talks to play the South African activist and archbishop in Roland Joffe's drama, reported Screen Daily.

Based on the play by Michael Ashton, the film is a fictionalised portrait of Desmond, following his career working for the Truth And Reconciliation Commission, where he meets a mass murderer seeking redemption for his crimes.

The project is still in its early days, as Roland is focusing on In God We Trust, which stars Josh Hartnett and Neve Campbell.

The filmmaker has described In God We Trust as "a thriller about stealing a country, manipulating money but also about the desire to kill your parents."

It's been a while since Forest, who scooped the best actor Oscar in 2006 for his performance as dictator Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland, took a leading role in a drama, having since appeared in thrillers Vantage Point, Street Kings and Repo Men.

He's been filming action adventure Last Stand with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and is set to start work on crime drama Freelancers alongside Robert De Niro and 50 Cent.