Gérard Depardieu to portray disgraced IMF head

French actor Gérard Depardieu is to star in a new film based on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sex scandal.

American director Abel Ferrara confirmed the long-rumoured film to Le Monde newspaper in Paris, adding that Isabelle Adjani had been cast as Anne Sinclair, wife of the former head of the International Monetary Fund.

Strauss-Kahn was forced to step down at the IMF last May after being charged with the rape of a maid at a New York hotel.

After a lengthy investigation, U.S. prosecutors in New York dropped the charges against him, but not before fresh allegations of sexual impropriety from other women and an international scandal.

The economist, lawyer and former French finance minister was forced to abandon plans to run for the French presidency after his name was tainted by the incident. He has since returned to public life.

Ferrara told Le Monde the film would be shot in New York, Paris and Washington. "In all the places of power: It's a film about the rich and powerful," said the director.

Depardieu, 63, has starred in more than 190 films, including Cyrano de Bergerac, Astérix and Obélix and soon-to-be-released Life of Pi. 

He suffered his own scandal last year when an international flight was delayed for two hours because he urinated on the airplane cabin floor.