The 47-year-old actor has confirmed he is set to replace Daniel Craig in the lead role in the eagerly-awaited sequel to the 2004 British crime thriller, which also featured Sienna Miller and Tom Hardy.

Jason said he will star in an adaptation of JJ Connolly's follow-up novel 'Viva La Madness', calling it the ''most exciting thing on [his] plate''.

He told Digital Spy: ''JJ Connelly's written a great book called 'Viva La Madness', and we're taking that book and doing something great with it.

''He's such a talented writer ... the book was incredible. I loved 'Layer Cake' and this is [if anything] better.

''The chance to work with someone of that calibre, do something back home, it's the most exciting thing on my plate ... We're doing it next year, and it's full steam ahead. We're putting all the finance together, and we're off and racing.''

The new movie, which will be set more than a decade after 'Layer Cake', follows the unnamed protagonist's return to London, where his friend Mister Mortimer tries to lure him back into the world of crime.