Forest Whitaker is reportedly set to star in 'Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One'.

The 53-year-old actor will join Felicity Jones in director Gareth Edwards' eagerly-awaited 'Star Wars' spin-off movie, which is set for release in 2016.

The Academy Award-winning star will feature in a role that is currently masked in secrecy, according to Variety.

Meanwhile, it is widely expected Felicity will play a rebel raider in the movie, while Diego Luna and Riz Ahmed are reportedly playing Alliance soldiers.

A screenplay for the project is currently being penned by Chris Weitz, who's best known for writing 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' and 'About a Boy'.

This comes after Gareth Edwards revealed 'Rogue One' is ''set in an era where there are no Jedi''.

In April, the director previewed the movie at the Star Wars Celebration event in the Anaheim Convention Centre and gave fans a few clues as to what they can expect.

He said: ''It's set in an era where there are no Jedi, or they're all but extinct.

''It's about the fact that God's not coming to save us. We're on our own - and we have to do this ourselves and turn around.

''The absence of the Jedi is omnipresent - it hangs over the whole movie - and it comes down to a group of individuals that don't have magical powers but have to somehow bring hope to the galaxy.''