Bradley Cooper is in talks to produce and star in 'Orphan X'.

The 40-year-old actor, who recently appeared in the Clint Eastwood-directed movie 'American Sniper', has expressed an interest in the project after Warner Bros. opened negotiations over the rights to the movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

'Orphan X' is the title of an upcoming book by Gregg Hurwitz, who tells the story of a man who strives to helps others, sometimes through violent methods.

The story's central character is ultimately drawn into the world of human slavery, which is engineered by a detective of the LAPD.

Meanwhile, Cooper recently admitted to being surprised by the controversy surrounding 'American Sniper', which tells the story of Chris Kyle, the deadliest marksman in US military history.

Cooper, who's received an Oscar nomination for his part in the film, said ''any discussion'' about the ''plight'' of the nation's military should be welcomed.

He explained: ''You never know when you make a movie if anybody's going to see it, so to have the audacity to think that it would cause any sort of effect at all would be pretty presumptuous.

''Any discussion that sheds light on the plight of the soldiers and the men and women in the armed services, for that discussion to occur is fantastic.''