Director Ridley Scott is making a film about the 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, between President Ronald Reagan and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The yet-unnamed film could be wrapped by the end of the year and released in early 2009.

"These are fascinating historical characters, larger-than-life figures, but I want to show who they were and why they did what they did," Scott told the Hollywood Reporter. "Their actions helped shape history, paving the way for the end of the Cold War."

Scott said it is only with the passing of time that the significance of the summit has been recognized. "But it was two decades ago. This generation might well say 'Summit, what summit?' They might ask 'Who is Gorbachev?'" he said.

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Ronald Reagan, the 40th American president, died in 2004 following a decade-long battle with Alzheimer's disease.