Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures are in final negotiations with the UK star and have closed deals with Ben Foster and Paula Patton.

The companies have also signed Travis Fimmel, Toby Kebbell and Rob Kazinsky for the adaptation of the Blizzard Entertainment property.

Duncan Jones will direct Warcraft from a screenplay by Charles Leavitt rewritten by Duncan Jones.

Production is set to begin in January in Vancouver as planned. The film is scheduled to open in 3D on March 11 2016.

Charles Roven, Legendary chief Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and Alex Gartner will produce, while Stuart Fenegan, Jillian Share, Brent O’Connor and Blizzard’s Mike Morhaime and Paul Sams will serve as executive producers.