Chris Evans set to portray Gene Kelly in new movie

Chris Evans is set to play Gene Kelly in a new movie.

The 40-year-old actor is rumoured to be portraying the 'Singin' in the Rain' icon in the new untitled film, which is based on an original idea conceived by the Captain America actor.

The project is about a 12-year-old boy who works on the MGM lot in 1952 and begins to create an imaginary friendship with Gene as he works on his next film.

No studio is currently attached to the film, but Deadline report that Chris will be producing alongside Mark Kassen.

Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman's T-Street Productions company is also attached as producer, with the Academy Award nominee John Logan penning the script.

The new movie will be a reunion for Evans, Johnson and Bergman as they all worked together on the hit murder mystery movie 'Knives Out'.

Chris played the superhero Steve Rogers/Captain America in 11 Marvel movies but admits that he is excited to pursue other roles following his decision to hang up his cape.

He said: "I absolutely loved my time with Marvel; I already miss it, but there's no denying that it is very exciting to just have complete freedom to pursue whatever my creative appetite wants."

Chris also spoke of the "enormous expectation" that he felt to do the superhero justice on the big screen.

The 'Don't Look Up' star said: "There was this enormous expectation that these people already had in their minds, this idea of who this character was, and you have to respect that.

"Audiences are part of what will make [these films] work, and I owe that group my understanding of what they see."