To some, Scarlett Johansson is the dream woman. Now the actor is to star as a pin-up extraterrestrial who roams the Scottish Highlands in search of male hitchhikers whose body parts she can harvest, in a sci-fi film directed by Jonathan Glazer.

Under the Skin will be produced by FilmNation, who today issued a statement explaining that Johansson will play "an alien on Earth, disguised as the perfect aesthetic form of a mesmerizing woman. She scours remote highways and desolate scenery looking to use her greatest weapon to snare human prey - her voracious sexuality."

Under the Skin is based on the novel of the same name by Michel Faber, published by Canongate in 2000, two years before The Crimson Petal and the White catapulted him to fame. Glazer co-wrote the script with Walter Campbell; production is scheduled to start in late spring 2011.

In a statement, FilmNation's CEO Glen Basner, said: "We're so very excited to be working on this arrestingly original movie. How could we pass up the chance to work with a visionary director like Jonathan, especially when combined with the intriguing notion of Scarlett Johansson as a ruthless alien seductress?"

Under the Skin is being produced with the help of Film4, the soon-to-be-scrapped UK Film Council and Scottish Screen.