Washington, Jan 1: Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has beaten Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom to bag the lead role in a new film about a slain photojournalist.

Radcliffe will be seen playing a photographer named Dan Eldon in ‘Journey,’ a film on the Somalian civil war.

Eldon was one of the four journalists who were stoned to death by a mob in the African country in 1993.

According to Eldon's mum Kathy, Radcliffe was the perfect choice to play her son.

"We resisted a lot of older actors because Dan was a boy emerging into manhood," Contactmusic quoted Kathy, as saying.

The movie is based on a compilation of Eldon’s journals. (ANI)