Fassbender, McQueen re-team for 'Slave'

Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen, above, at the NY Film Festival premiere of 'Shame.'Call it a three-peat for Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen, as the thesp and multi-hyphenate are reteaming again on McQueen's next pic "12 Years a Slave."Mcqueen will direct from a script he co-wrote with John Ridley.Pic also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and tells the true story of Solomon Northrup, a NY citizen who was kidnapped in Washington in 1841 and rescued from a cotton plantation in Louisiana in 1853.Plan B's Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner are set to produce the film, which is expected to start production early next year. CAA is arranging financing for the pic and representing U.S. rights.Besides "12 Years a Slave," Fassbender has also worked with McQueen on "Hunger" and Fox Searchlight's "Shame," which has already received festival-circuit buzz for Fassbender's strong perf.While Fassbender's profile has risen with starring roles in the Fox tentpole "X-Men: First Class" and next summer's "Prometheus," thesp has still shown interest in smaller films in between the more commercial fare. Earlier this year, he starred alongside Mia Wasikowska in "Jane Eyre" and can be seen later this fall in both "Shame" and Sony Pictures Classic's "A Dangerous Method" as Carl Jung.He is repped by CAA. Contact Justin Kroll at justin.kroll@variety.com