Michael Fassbender to star in spy thriller Malko

Michael Fassbender is set to headline and produce a film adaptation of the bestselling spy series S.A.S.

The big screen production will be titled Malko and is based on Gerard de Villiers' serialised novels, consisting of over 200 books.

Oscar nominated American Hustle screenwriter Eric Warren Singer will pen the script, while bosses at Lionsgate will develop the thriller into a possible franchise.

Fassbender will star as super spy for hire Malko Linge, an Austrian nobleman and CIA agent who endured imprisonment in a Nazi work camp for captured spies.

According to editors at Deadline, the first film will largely be based upon de Villiers' book Checkpoint Charlie. The actor will work on the project as part of his production company DMC Film.

"We are enormously excited to be teaming with Greg Shapiro and Michael Fassbender as well as Lars Sylvest from Black Magic and Thorsten Schumacher from Rocket Science to develop Malko," said Lionsgate president Joe Drake in a statement.

"This is a character with a tremendous 200 title library of amazing spy stories to draw from and we believe we have a world-class creative team in place with Michael and Eric Warren Singer as we move forward on this project."

Currently starring in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Fassbender, 42, is next set to begin work on David Sandberg's Kung Fury 2.

The S.A.S. book series has sold more than 120 million copies worldwide and have been translated into multiple languages.