Christopher Eccleston joins Hilary Swank in Amelia Earhart biopic

Christopher Eccleston will jump from an evil turn in "G.I. Joe" to a co-starring turn with Hilary Swank in "Amelia."

The biopic of Amelia Earhart will be directed by Mira Nair for Avalon Pictures and Fox Searchlight.

According to Variety, Eccleston will play Fred Noonan, who served as aviator Earhart's (Swank) navigator when she attempted to circumnavigate the globe in 1937. We all know how that turned out, or else we were dozing in history class.

Also starring in "Amelia" are Richard Gere, Ewan MacGregor and Virginia Madsen.

Eccleston, who plays the villainous Destro in the "G.I. Joe" feature, is probably best known to audiences for his work in "eXistenZ" and "Jude." No, seriously, viewers are probably more likely to recognize him as the frequently invisible Claude from the first season of "Heroes" and for his run as the title character in "Doctor Who."