Ethan Hawke to star in Richard Linklater's movie Blue Moon

Ethan Hawke is set to star in Richard Linklater's 'Blue Moon'.

The 53-year-old actor will collaborate with the director for the ninth time on the film that will begin production in Dublin this summer.

Other cast members to have signed up for the flick include Margaret Qualley, Andrew Scott and Bobby Cannavale.

'Blue Moon' has been written by Robert Kaplow and tells the story of the final days of Lorenz Hart – one half of the successful Rodgers and Hart songwriting duo – in 1943.

The movie is primarily set on the opening night of 'Oklahoma!' which marked Richard Rodgers's first collaboration with Hart's replacement Oscar Hammerstein II.

Linklater said: "Robert, Ethan and I have been developing this story for over a decade and are excited and grateful that the time has come to bring this to life."

Sony Pictures Classics have acquired the worldwide rights to the picture with Sony releasing it around the globe.

A spokesperson for Sony Pictures Classics said: "Almost a year ago, Rick, Ethan, and John reached out to us with Robert Kaplow's amazing script 'Blue Moon'.

"Helping them over the following months to bring it together has been incredibly exciting and now, on the verge of production, with this fantastic cast and crew in place and Rick at the helm, we are thrilled to finally announce it and bring the film to audiences everywhere in the world."

Linklater has directed the movie 'Hit Man' but feels that the risk-averse approach that exists in the film industry meant that studios weren't interested in the story at first.

The 63-year-old filmmaker said: "You don't get fired for doing a sequel or an origin story, something that already exists.

"You don't get into trouble for what's obvious and commercial. What changed is that films got greenlit by the marketing department and then it's become really safe choices.

"I think of 'Hit Man' as a movie to have fun with, there should always be room for some sexy couple movies, these are standards in cinema of what people want to see quite often."