Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley returns to the screen

Tom Ripley, the sexually ambiguous character created by lesbian novelist Patricia Highsmith, will soon make his fifth foray on the big screen, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan, Battlefield Earth) is in negotiations to play Ripley for director Roger Spottiswoode in Ripley Under Ground, scheduled to begin shooting June 2 in England. Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom, The Full Monty) is also circling a role in the film. Based on Highsmith's second Ripley novel, Ripley Under Ground has the character getting involved in art-world skullduggery. The character of Ripley has previously turned up onscreen in Purple Noon (1960), The American Friend (1977), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), and in the upcoming Ripley's Game.