Will Smith to play crime lord in David Leitch's new thriller Fast & Loose

Will Smith will play an amnesiac crime lord in David Leitch's new thriller Fast & Loose.

The project was announced back in April last year when Leitch was originally set to serve as producer and no leading man had yet to be cast, but Smith reportedly signed on to front the movie once the Deadpool 2 filmmaker decided to direct.

The action thriller, penned by Jon and Erich Hoeber, is now being pitched to film studios including Sony, Paramount, MGM and Warner Bros., and streamers such as Netflix, according to Deadline.

Fast & Loose will follow the story of crime boss John Riley, who suffers complete memory loss after being left for dead following a brutal attack and begins to uncover a string of clues to uncover his identity. He soon discovers he's been living two separate lives – one as a crime kingpin with a lavish lifestyle and the other as an undercover CIA agent with no family.

Riley is then left with the problem of finding out which one of the personas is his real identity, and which life he wants to live.

Smith will begin production on the action thriller after he's finished filming Antoine Fuqua's runaway slave drama Emancipation, which is heading to streaming service Apple after being snapped up for a whopping $105 million (£76 million) last year.

The two-time Oscar nominee will next be seen playing the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard and is appearing opposite Kevin Hart in the remake of Planes, Trains & Automobiles.