Eliza Dushku

Eliza Dushku, star of Fox’s frosh series "Dollhouse," is bringing a biopic on iconic photographer Robert Mapplethorpe to the bigscreen.

Dushku has secured the exclusive rights and the full cooperation from Mapplethorpe’s estate and has enlisted two-time Sundance grand jury prize winner and indie darling Ondi Timoner ("DIG!") to helm the film, which is titled "The Perfect Moment."

Timoner’s Interloper Films and Dushku’s Boston Diva Prods. are producing the pic, which will chronicle Mapplethorpe’s career from his rise to fame in the 1970s for his portraits of socialites and rock stars until his death in 1989 at age 42 from complications arising from AIDS.

Documentarian Timoner, who will make her feature directorial debut on the project, called "The Perfect Moment" a dream film to make.

"He is an artist who could not help but express his vision of the world, despite the tempest it spawned," Timoner said. "A pariah to some, a hero to others, Mapplethorpe’s talent combined with his irreverence toward social norms made him a cultural lightning rod."

Dushku, a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" alum who also co-produces "Dollhouse," has starred in a number of indie films including "Bottle Shock" and "Nobel Son" and become a regular on the fest circuit.

"The Mapplethorpe Foundation was impressed by Ondi Timoner’s vision for the project and her strengths as an artist, and we’re very pleased she has chosen to tell Robert Mapplethorpe’s story," said Michael Ward Stout, president of the foundation, which holds all rights to the late photographer’s work.

Timoner’s credits include this year’s Sundance grand jury prize winner, "We Live in Public," which chronicles the Internet’s impact on human interaction as told through the eyes and artwork of Web pioneer Josh Harris.