Dwayne Johnson: I will play Lobo

Dwayne Johnson has confirmed he will star as bounty hunter Lobo in a new movie about the comic book alien.

It was reported last month that Journey 2: The Mysterious Island director Brad Peyton was planning a film adaptation of the DC Comic series about the psychopathic creature and it was rumoured he would team up again with the former wrestler for the project.

Dwayne - known to wrestling fans as The Rock - has tweeted: "Rumours of me possibly playing LOBO are true. Joel Silver and Brad Peyton working on it now. That could be fun.."

Lobo is a seven foot, dreadlocked, alien bounty hunter with a penchant for goth make-up and cigars. He wields weapons on chains and rides a space bike and was created in 1983 by Keith Giffin and Roger Slifer, who intended him to be a satire of excessively violent Marvel comic book characters such Wolverine and The Punisher.

Many missed the joke, however, and the crazy alien became an icon of cartoon violence in the 1990s.

Joel Silver and Akiva Goldsman are producing the film for Warner Bros.

Guy Ritchie was previously attached to direct the film when the screenplay was written by Fantastic 4: Rise Of The Silver Surfer's Don Payne, and reportedly followed Lobo on earth, helping a young girl defend her town.