Last May we found out that Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson was going to make a disaster movie with a love story at its core, a la Titanic. But instead of on a boat, this love story is to unfold while Mt. Vesuvius erupts, raining down fire and ash and death on everything around it, including the ancient city of Pompeii, Italy.

The movie, which is titled Pompeii, has found its first star. It’s being reported that Game of Thrones star Kit Harington, who plays the bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark on the hit HBO series, Jon Snow, has entered into negotiations for the male lead.

Harington will play a slave belonging to a shipping tycoon who plans to buy his own freedom and marry the tycoon’s daughter. Unfortunately for him, however, her hand has already been promised to a corrupt senator, and he’s been sold to another owner. While on a boat heading for Naples, the volcano begins to erupt, and the slave must find a way to get back to Pompeii to save his love and his best friend.

No word yet on who will play the female lead and romantic partner of Harington’s character.

At the time we first heard about this project last May it was said that they wanted to be filming the movie by that time the next year for a 2013 or 2014 release. That target date was, of course, this past May, so it’s more than likely they’re now planning on a 2014 release for Pompeii.

The only real question is if this love story somehow has a happy ending, or if photos like the one above from a Pompeii dig are the inspiration for the movie.

[Source: Heat Vision]