Bradley Cooper will play Frank Bullitt in Steven Spielberg's new movie.

The 47-year-old star has signed up to head the cast of the original story that centres on Frank Bullitt – the character made famous by Steve McQueen in the 1968 film 'Bullitt'.

Bradley will produce the film with Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger with Josh Singer writing the script.

Steve McQueen's son Chad and granddaughter Molly are attached as executive producers on the project.

Sources have stressed that this will not be a remake of the original film but is a new idea centred on the character.

In the original flick, Frank Bullitt is a no-nonsense San Francisco police officer hunting for a mob kingpin that killed his witness. The project is considered to be one of McQueen's most famous roles and delivers one of the most famous car chases in cinematic history.

Bradley has only recently closed a deal to feature in the film but he and Spielberg have been in discussions about the character and what the new take on the story would be going all the way back to the height of the pandemic.

Cooper and Spielberg have been trying to work together for years and the legendary filmmaker came close to directing the star on the 2014 movie 'American Sniper', although he ultimately moved on and was replaced by Clint Eastwood.

Spielberg also considered helming the upcoming Leonard Bernstein biopic 'Maestro' – which will star Bradley in the lead role – but ultimately stepped aside to allow Cooper to direct following his work on the acclaimed adaptation of 'A Star Is Born'.

The 'Jaws' director remains as a producer on the movie along with Macosko Krieger, Martin Scorsese, Fred Berner and Amy Durning.