Joaquin 'finalising Dr Strange deal'

Joaquin Phoenix is said to be finalising a contract to star in Doctor Strange.

The Academy Award-nominated actor has been attached to the forthcoming Marvel Studios flick for a while now, but recent reports suggested Jack Huston was being considered for the starring role.

But according to Collider, Joaquin is the only thespian in the running for the part at this time. It’s also claimed he is so deep in final negotiations, a deal is likely to be sealed very soon.

Doctor Strange is based on the eponymous Marvel comic books that centre on a brilliant but arrogant neurosurgeon named Stephen Vincent Strange. The doctor’s life becomes transformed when a sorcerer takes the physician under his wing to save the world from evil.

Over the summer several actors were rumoured to be up for the titular role, including Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hardy.

Scott Derickson will helm Doctor Strange, which is due for release in the summer of 2016.

Joaquin’s most recent project, sci-fi romcom Her, was released last year and the star received numerous accolades for his work in the feature. The 39-year-old star plays lonely writer Theodore in the Spike Jonze movie, which follows the wordsmith as he falls in love with a computer operating system called Samantha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.

Joaquin has very few films on his agenda between now and 2016. He recently completed director Paul Thomas Anderson’s new thriller Inherent Vice, which is based on the 2009 novel published by Thomas Pynchon. The movie is due to reach theatres in January 2015.