The 46-year-old 'Men in Black' actor has been confirmed as the replacement for the lead role, even though Johnny Depp was being the rumoured as the producers' favourite to replace Hugh, who was forced to pull out of the film last month.

In the movie, the 'Men in Black' star will play a New York advertising executive who has experienced a deep personal tragedy, resulting in his colleagues devising an unconventional plan to try to pull him out of his depression, Deadline reports.

The indie drama - which was written by Allan Loeb - is being directed by 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl' director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, and will also star 'The Social Network' actress Rooney Mara.

Filming is expected to begin in October, with Hugh having to pull out due to scheduling conflicts with the shooting of the third 'Wolverine' movie, which will be in cinemas in March 2017.

In the meantime, Will can be seen in upcoming movies such as NFL drama 'Concussion', and Warner Bros' comic book adaptation 'Suicide Squad', which also stars model-turned-actress Cara Delevingne.

Despite ''not being the biggest fan of superhero films'', which she thinks are usually ''totally sexist'', Cara previously described the villain ensemble as ''f***ing insane''.

She added: ''I've never been so excited to see a film and I'm actually in it. I wish I could tell you about it at all. The movie is going to be the best thing in the world.''