Michael Sheen starred alongside Dame Helen Mirren in The Queen

Director Peter Morgan will examine Tony Blair's reaction to the handover of power between US presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush in 2001.

The film will be Morgan's third in the Blair trilogy, which began with the Channel Four drama The Deal, which was shown in 2003.

Michael Sheen is expected to once again reprise his role as Blair, reports trade magazine Variety.

Morgan is to start writing the film by the end of the year and the project is being produced by Andy Harries and BBC Film's Christine Langan, the team behind The Deal and The Queen.

Harries and Langan are already working on another Morgan screenplay at the moment called The Damned United.

It is adapted from David Peace's novel about football manager Brian Clough, with Sheen again set to take the lead role.