In a shrewd casting move, three of the best working actors in Hollywood have been tossed together in a new period piece by director Michael Hoffman. Production Weekly reports that Meryl Streep, Anthony Hopkins, and Paul Giamatti will star in the adaptation of Jay Parini’s novel The Last Station. Two have won Oscars and one has been nominated and shafted (sorry Giamatti).

The historical biopic revolves around the rough last years of Leo Tolstoy’s (Hopkins) life, as his wife Sofya Andreyevn (Streep) and leading disciple Vladimir Cherkov (Giamatti) battle for his soul. Tolstoy makes a dramatic exit from his home after dealing with his professed love of poverty and chastity, his immense wealth, a life of hedonism and thirteen kids. The problem is he is too old to make it past a tiny rail station at Astapovo, and he accepts his fate to die alone. Well, not complete alone, since over a hundred newspaperman camp outside for hourly updates on his condition. What’s a man gotta do for a little privacy?

The film is scheduled to begin shooting at locations in Russia in February.