Hilary Duff is on the verge of jumping from teen creampuff to serious actress. According to a report sent to us tonight from a scooper who asked to be kept anonymous, Duff’s next movie may be a drama called The Emancipation of Jonny.

Our source says the film is in development at Revolution Studios and that it’s ” based on the true-life of Director, Jonathan Nguyen, lime-lights the teenage debacle of Jonathan Tyler, as he struggles to balance his dreams with his reality. Production is set to commence as of mid-July, and finalization for release is due by late November 2007. With the majority of its production shot in Sydney, Australia, the film stars Liam Aiken (Lemony Snicket’s: A Series of Misfortunate Events), Hilary Duff (Material Girls), and Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy).

We’re still working to verify this one, so for now treat it as heavy rumor territory. It does sort of fit in with Hilary’s most recent movie choices though, which have been a step or two outside her usual teenie bopper comfort zone. For instance she’s just finished working on an action thriller with John Cusack called War, Inc. If Hilary Duff is ready to grow up and start becoming a real actress, a low-profile flick like this might be a good way to do it.