"Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe will star in "Journey," a film about photographer Dan Eldon's experiences during the civil war in Somalia reports Digital Spy.

The 22-year-old Eldon worked as a freelance photographer for news service Reuters. Eldon spent months on the ground in Mogadishu covering the increasingly desperate situation and became friendly with locals, colleagues and peacekeepers. His photos of the unfolding horror on the ground graced the covers of newspapers and magazines around the world.

In July 1993, he and three other journalists were beaten, clubbed and stoned to death by an angry mob furious over the 50 or so locals killed in an apparent bombing of Habar Gedir clan leader Mohammed Farah Aidid's headquarters.

Radcliffe apparently beat out Aussie thesp Heath Ledger, fellow Brit Orlando Bloom and Americans Ryan Phillippe and Joaquin Phoenix to win the coveted role.

Radcliffe also has the crucial backing of Eldon family, Eldon's mother is quoted as saying that "We resisted a lot of older actors because Dan was a boy emerging into manhood" and noted that Radcliffe's "puckishness, sense of humour and energy" are much like her sons.

The compilation of Eldon's diaries, "The Journey is the Destination," has sold nearly 200,000 copies since it was published a decade ago.