Monty Python star in film comedy about death of Stalin

Former Monty Python actor Michael Palin. (AFP PHOTO/Leon Neal)

A film satire on the last days of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin starring Monty Python's Michael Palin is soon to start shooting, its producers told AFP Friday.

"The Death of Stalin" recounts the chaotic power struggles in the Kremlin to replace the dictator who died in 1953.

U.S. star Steve Buscemi will play Nikita Khrushchev who finally won out over Stalin loyalists in the days before the dictator's state funeral.

Former Bond star Timothy Dalton is also to appear as the great World War II general Georgy Zhukov, a spokeswoman for Quad Films confirmed.

She said Palin plays a more minor role.

The film will be directed by Armando Iannucci, showrunner of the hit U.S. television political series the "Veep", who wrote the script with fellow British comedian David Schneider.

Iannucci made his name with the British political comedy series "The Thick of It" which spawned the hit film "In the Loop".

Stalin, who some historians blame for the deaths of millions of people, is still revered by many Russians.

The script -- adapted from a French graphic novel by Fabien Nury -- was described as "scathing", with shooting to start later this year, said the producers.