Clint Eastwood has chosen acting legend Christopher Walken to lead the cast of his upcoming Jersey Boys movie.

The actor/director is working on a big screen adaptation of the hit stage show about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and he has signed up the Oscar winner in a key role as a New Jersey mobster who helped the group build a music career.

Walken will play Angelo 'Gyp' DeCarlo in the film, according to Deadline.com, and previous reports suggest the director has chosen a young cast of rising stars to play Valli and his bandmates.

Broadway star John Lloyd Young, who played Valli in the New York show, is rumoured to be reprising his role for the film, and Boardwalk Empire's Vincent Piazza is also said to be among the cast.

The movie will go into production over the summer (13).