Pierce Brosnan`s next film to open at Berlin festival in February

The "big star" of next year's Berlin international film festival may yet prove to be noticeable by his absence – the new picture by director Roman Polanski has been selected to premiere at the event, but the director remains in detention in Switzerland, reports the Guardian.

Polanski's drama, now called The Ghost Writer, is based on a novel by Robert Harris. It tells the tale of a writer recruited to help a disgraced British prime minister produce his memoirs against the backdrop of a possible indictment at the international criminal court. The film stars Pierce Brosnan as the statesman and Ewan McGregor as his hired author. Kim Cattrall and Olivia Williams take supporting roles.

Polanski, the director of Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown and The Pianist, is currently under house arrest at his Swiss home awaiting likely extradition to the US, which he fled in 1978 following a conviction for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. When the 77-year-old director was arrested while en route to accept a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich film festival, the organisers of the Berlin event protested what they claimed was "the arbitrary treatment of one of the world's most outstanding film directors."

Harris revealed earlier this year that Polanski was putting the finishing touches to The Ghost Writer while in prison near Zurich. Patrick Wachsberger of Summit Entertainment, which has picked up US rights to The Ghost Writer, said yesterday that Polanski had approved the final cut from his alpine chalet in the Swiss resort of Gstaad. He said the $35m (£21m) film was complete bar for visual effects.

"We have talked on the telephone, and Roman sounds in good spirits now that he is sleeping in his own bed and is reunited with his wife and family," Wachsberger told Variety. His partner in Summit, Rob Friedman added: "Roman is a well respected artist and people will judge his film as art."

The Ghost Writer will be joined in Berlin by Shutter Island, a thriller by Martin Scorsese, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley.

Also in the lineup is the German-Iranian co-production The Hunter, the Shah Rukh Khan-starring My Name Is Khan and On the Path, by the Bosnian film-maker Jasmila Zbanic. The rest of the 26 films in competition will be announced in January.

"The competition of the 60th anniversary Berlinale will be marked by a mix of styles and genres, by exciting newcomers and renowned directors," said festival director Dieter Kosslick.

The 60th Berlin international film festival runs from 11-21 February.

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