Los Angeles, May 14 (IANS): Actress Rachel Weisz is set to produce and star in “Snatchback”, a kidnapping thriller dealing with illegal child recovery.

Directed by Pete Travis, the project is being launched to buyers in Cannes International Film Festival by London-based Protagonist Pictures, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

The film is inspired by the true story of Maureen Dabbagh, a woman from Virginia whose former husband kidnapped their two year-old daughter and took her to the Middle East in 1992. She spent over a decade searching for her child, one of 1,000 children illegally abducted from US each year, before she finally found her.

The plot of the film will see Dabbagh (or “Mo” as she is nicknamed) find out how far she is willing to go to get her child back. In the years after the kidnapping, she becomes a mercenary engaged in dangerous missions across the Middle East to help other families recover kidnapped children - while never giving up on her own search.

Weisz, who appears in two competition films at Cannes - “The Lobster” and “Youth”, will play the role of Mo in “Snatchback”, which is scheduled to go on floor later this year.