Angelina Jolie has won her dream role--as author Ayn Rand's iconic heroine Dagney Taggart.

Jolie, a longtime fan of Russian-born Rand, has been quietly campaigning to play Taggart in new film Atlas Shrugged--and now she's landed the role, according to trade newspaper Daily Variety.

The movie adaptation of Rand's epic tome has been kicking around Hollywood for many years, and at one point was set to star Faye Dunaway.

The project sets up a busy 12 months for Jolie, whose next movie will be another epic adaptation, Beowulf. She'll also be seen alongside Matt Damon in The Good Shepherd and she'll also star in the adaptation of Mariane Pearl's book about the kidnap and murder of her husband, journalist Daniel Pearl.