Dane DeHaan has joined the cast of 'Oppenheimer'.

The 36-year-old star has boarded the starry ensemble for Christopher Nolan's new movie, which features Cillian Murphy in the lead role as physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer - one of the fathers of the atomic bomb.

Oppenheimer was responsible for developing the bomb during World War II but later found his loyalty to the US questioned by the behaviour of government officials.

Nolan has written the script and will be behind the camera on the project that is preparing to shoot in New Mexico.

An all-star cast also features Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie and Josh Hartnett.

The movie has been described by Universal as an "epic thriller that thrusts audiences into the pulse-pounding of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it".

Character details about Dane's role are being kept tightly under wraps.

DeHaan's previous credits include 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' and 'A Cure for Wellness' but this will mark his first major movie since the 2017 movie 'Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets' - which failed to launch a hoped-for franchise.

Emma Thomas and Charles Roven are serving as producers on 'Oppenheimer' for Atlas Entertainment and a release date of July 2023 has been pencilled in for the movie.

Cillian recently admitted that taking on the role of Oppenheimer felt both "immense" and "terrifying" but says that he doesn't want to take on easy parts during his acting career.

The 45-year-old actor said: “It does feel immense and it feels terrifying but if I felt it was easy, I wouldn’t be interested. I do get nervous, anxious and insecure, but then you go, ‘F*** it. I’ve been doing it for 25 years and I have done it before. So just keep going.'"