Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice) has overcome tough competition from Evangeline Lilly (Real Steel) and Felicity Jones (Like Crazy) to nab the lead female role in Paramount’s Jack Ryan reboot.

Knightley will star opposite Chris Pine (Star Trek), Kenneth Branagh (Frankenstein), Kevin Costner (The Untouchables) and James Earl Jones (The Lion King) in the long-in-development project.

Jack Ryan centres on a Marine-turned-financial-analyst (Pine) who, after discovering a plot by his employer to bring down the US economy, goes on the run to save both his country and his wife (Knightley).

Branagh, who most recently helmed the Marvel superhero blockbuster Thor, is attached to direct from a screenplay most recently penned by David Koepp. Filming is due to get underway next month.

Knightley, who previously experienced the blockbuster effect with the Pirates of the Caribbean films, will next be seen in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina, which is set for a September 7 UK release.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter