Riz Ahmed to star in Invasion

Riz Ahmed is to lead the cast of 'Invasion'.

The 37-year-old actor is attached to appear alongside Octavia Spencer in the sci-fi film, which is being directed by BAFTA-winning filmmaker Michael Pearce.

Amazon Studios have acquired the rights to the project, which follows two young brothers who go on the run with their father (Ahmed), who needs to protect them from an extraterrestrial threat.

As the journey becomes increasingly dangerous, the boys are forced to face hard truths and leave their childhood behind.

Pearce has penned the script with Joe Barton and will be produced by American company Raw and Film4, which has backed development on the project.

Michael previously directed 'Beast', which starred Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn, and earned the director a BAFTA award for Outstanding Debut.

Ahmed is becoming a permanent fixture on the big screen with roles in a variety of different movies such as 'Four Lions', 'Venom' and 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.'

He previously revealed that he became a "bit obsessive" in his efforts to land a part in the 'Star Wars' spin-off, in which he played Empire defector Bodhi Rook.

Riz explained: "I went a bit overboard, a bit over the top, I got a bit obsessive about my work.

"They were like, 'Could you read for this scene?' And the director made the stupid mistake of giving me his email address so I recorded an audition and I sent it to him ... I started thinking, 'Hang on a minute, I can do it better' so I sent him another audition. And I sent him another one."