He’s conquered screens as Prince Caspian in Disney’s new Narnia movie, next up for sword-wielding Ben Barnes is something with a little less CGI. He’s doing an Oscar Wilde adaptation by playing Dorian Gray in The Portrait of Dorian Gray, according to HR.

Dorian Gray as a character has appeared in numerous film and television adaptations. Most recently you might remember seeing the character played by Stuart Townsend in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but the sooner we’re all able to erase that movie from our collective consciousness the better. In short, Gray is the guy who never ages because he’s managed to transfer his aging over to a picture. Wilde’s novel is a thoughtful and introspective story about the disfiguring of a man’s soul, in LXG the character is an excuse for special effects and sword fighting.

Hopefully, this new movie will at worst, fall somewhere in the middle of those two portrayals. It’s being produced by the folks that brought you The Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband, so an over-the-top, empty-headed action movie seems unlikely. In fact, the film’s producers claim their aiming for something along the lines of dark horror used to examine themes of “stardom”. Maybe they can explain to us why people care about Paris Hilton.