He has been out of the mayor's office for just three weeks, but the film rights to the life story of former New York City politician Rudolph Giuliani have already been bought by a movie company.

A TV movie called Rudy Giuliani: Emperor of the City is to be made, based on a biography of the former mayor by a New York TV journalist, Andrew Kirtzman.

The rights have been bought by Five Mile River Films, best known for their biopics of religious figures including Jesus, Moses and Joseph.

Mr Giuliani left office as the mayor of New York City on 31 December after being widely praised for his leadership in the wake of the 11 September attacks.

Emergency

The biography was written by Mr Kirtzman, political correspondent with TV station New York 1 and originally published in 2000.

Mr Kirtzman was with Mr Giuliani on the morning of 11 September while the then-mayor was searching for a location for an emergency command centre.

He later updated the book to include a final chapter about the attacks.

There were no details of the fee paid for the story, when the film would reach the screens, or who would star in it.

Strong

Viewers will see the Republican politician's rise from a working class Brooklyn family to one of the most powerful and popular men in the city.

He will be remembered for providing strong leadership in the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center.

But the former lawyer and state prosecutor had served two terms before that, slashing crime rates with his "zero tolerance" policing policy.

He had surgery for prostate cancer in September 2000, around the same time that he separated from his wife of 16 years.

Five Mile River Films' most recent movie was The James Dean Story, starring James Franco.