Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are also on board the drama, based on a Vanity Fair article, which follows an Indian street kid adopted by Australian parents

Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are attached to star in Lion, a new drama that The Weinstein Company will be pitching to buyers at the American Film Market in Los Angeles next week.

The drama, based on an Vanity Fair article, follows a street kid from Calcutta (Patel) who is taken in and adopted by a couple in Australia, played by Kidman and Jackman. Jackman and Patel co-starred in Chappie, the upcoming sci-fi thriller from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp. Kidman and Jackman last appeared together in Baz Luhrmann's Australia in 2008.

The script to Lion, which TWC sent out to key international buyers ahead of the AFM, has generated major buzz and many expect the title to be among the top sellers at this year's market. TWC bought worldwide rights to Lion, from The King's Speech producer See-Saw Films, in Cannes for $12 million and views it as a potential awards player.

Patel, the star of Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, is shaping up to be one of the stars of this year's market.

Read More 'Slumdog Millionaire' Kids Reunite, Five Years Later

In addition to Lion, Patel plays self-taught Indian math genius Srinivasa Ramanujan in Matt Brown's period drama The Man Who Knew Infinity, which Mister Smith Entertainment is pitching to buyers; and co-stars in Lionsgate's Soviet-era thriller Child 44 and Annapurna's The Road Within, a remake of the hit German dramedy Vincent Wants to Sea.

Patel also appears in John Madden's upcoming The Second Best Marigold Hotel, the sequel to the 2011 hit, which Fox Searchlight will release in the U.S. next year.