Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman are in negotiations to topline Touchstone Pictures' "The Prestige," which will serve as Christopher Nolan's next directorial outing.

Bale and Jackman will play rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London who battle each other for trade secrets. The rivalry is so intense that it turns them into murderers. The title refers to the residue left after a magician's successful trick.

The script is based on Christopher Priest's 1996 novel of the same name and was adapted by Nolan's brother, Jonathan. He wrote the short story on which Christopher's Nolan's breakout movie, "Memento," was based on.

The movie will shoot in January with a budget around the $40 million range.

Nolan is producing with Aaron Ryder and Emma Thomas. Newmarket's William Tyrer and Chris Ball are executive producing. The movie was developed at Newmarket.

Disney exec Kristin Burr is overseeing.

Touchstone will distribute domestically, while Warner Bros. Pictures will distribute internationally.

"Prestige" reteams Bale with Nolan, both of whom worked on "Batman Begins." Bale, repped by Endeavor, next appears in "The New World." He is in Thailand shooting "Rescue Dawn" for Werner Herzog.

Endeavor-repped Jackman is shooting "X-Men 3" and next appears in Darren Aronofsky's "The Fountain."