LOS ANGELES - Brad Pitt is being lined up to play British explorer Percy Fawcett, who disappeared in the Amazon jungle in 1925 during an expedition to find a lost city, it was reported on Tuesday.

Pitt, 44, has expressed an interest in producing and starring in "Lost City of Z" which tells the story of Fawcett's ill-fated mission 83 years ago, entertainment industry journal Daily Variety reported.

Fawcett -- whose exploits are said to be one of the inspirations for action hero Indiana Jones -- vanished while trying to locate the City of Z. Generations of explorers have since attempted to retrace Fawcett's route in an effort to solve the riddle of his disappearance.

Pitt, who most recently appeared in "The Assassination of Jesse James," has two films awaiting release, Joel and Ethan Coen's "Burn After Reading" and David Fincher's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."