Josh Gad is to star in 'Moonfall'.

The 39-year-old actor is being lined up for one of the main roles in Roland Emmerich's latest movie which has been written by 'The Independence Day' filmmaker along with Harald Kloser and Spenser Cohen and centres on the moon being on a collision course with Earth.

With the safety of humanity in the balance, a team of misfits are sent on a mission to land on the moon and save the world.

Gad is the first actor to be cast in the film and will play the role of KC Houseman, who is described as odd, unkempt and disorganised.

However, he is very intelligent and correctly predicts that the moon has fallen out of its orbit, making him one of the few people that can save humanity.

The movie is expected to begin production in the autumn although the coronavirus pandemic has currently shutdown Hollywood and most movie and TV productions.

Emmerich, 64, is producing the film under his Centropolis banner while Kloser is producing through his Street Entertainment company.

Gad has been working on a number of projects despite the coronavirus lockdown.

He has launched a YouTube series, 'Reunited Apart', which has brought together stars from classic 1980s movies such as 'The Goonies' and 'Back to the Future' and has also reprised his 'Frozen' role as magical snowman Olaf in a new series of shorts.

The 'At Home With Olaf' series has been developed by Disney animator Hyrum Osmond - the supervising animator of Olaf from the first 'Frozen' film - to entertain fans who are stuck at home due to the global health crisis.

The shorts are available for free on the Disney Magic Moments video portal and Walt Disney Animation Studios YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.