DEADLINE – Sony Pictures Classics said it has acquired worldwide rights to the Hank Williams biopic I Saw The Light, the movie that stars Tom Hiddleston as the iconic country singer. Marc Abraham wrote and directed the pic that chronicles Williams meteoric rise to fame and its ultimately tragic effect on his health and personal life. Elizabeth Olsen, Bradley Whitford, David Krumholtz and Cherry Jones co-star. No release date was announced.

RatPac Entertainment’s Brett Ratner and Bron Studios’ Aaron L. Gilbert produced the film with G. Marq Roswell and Abraham, who wrote the script based on the Colin Escott biography. RatPac’s James Packerand Jason Cloth of Creative Wealth Media Finance executive produced. Sony Classics, which had a label-record 18 Oscar nominations this year, said it has been “actively talking with Brett Ratner about becoming involved” with I Saw The Light for a long time.”

The Avengers star Hiddleston, a Brit, was tapped for the role of the Country & Western legend last summer and sings such Williams standards as “Your Cheatin’ Heart”, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and “Hey Good Lookin’ ” after the film’s backers made a deal with Sony ATV to secure rights to the Williams music catalog. The singer died at age 29 of heart failure.

DEADLINE – Elizabeth Olsen has joined the cast of RatPac Entertainment and Bron Studios’ I Saw The Light, the film about the life of country western singer Hank Williams. Deadline’s Mike Fleming broke the news this summer that Tom Hiddleston nabbed the Williams role and will be singing classics like “Your Cheatin’ Heart”, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and “Hey Good Lookin’”. Olsen will play Williams’ wife Audrey Mae. Marc Abraham is directing from his own script about Williams’ meteoric rise to fame, and the price that fame took on his personal life. He died at age 29 of heart failure.

Pic is based on the biography by Colin Escott and is produced by RatPac’s Brett Rather and Bron Studios’ Aaron L. Gilbert, along with G. Marq Roswell and Abraham. James Packer will executive produce for RatPac Entertainment. I Saw The Light is also a Creative Wealth Media Finance co-production. Olsen recently completed filming her superhero role in Marvel’s Avengers: The Age of Ultron after co-starring in Legendary’s monster hit Godzilla. She’s repped by The Gersh Agency, Brillstein Entertainment and Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern, LLP.