Jackie Chan is turning detective

Jackie Chan is to play a detective in a new English-language action comedy.

The Rush Hour star will produce and star in the film, and has signed up TV writer Jay Longino to write the script based on his own idea, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film will see a Jackie play a detective who must track down an American gambler that has skipped out on his debt owed to a Macau casino syndicate.

It will be set in Hong Kong, Macau, Eastern Europe and mainland China, and will be co-financed by Jackie's JC Group International and Chinese production and distribution company Talent International Media Group.

Jackie showcased his latest film Chinese Zodiac at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, a movie he produced, wrote, directed and starred in.

The film, due for release in December, is the third in Jackie's Armour Of God series. The first film was released in 1987, with Jackie playing the Indiana Jones-style character Asian Hawk.

He has previously said he wants to be like other well-known actors and stay behind the camera in the future.

"I want to be like Dustin Hoffman or Al Pacino, doing something totally different," he said, "or like Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby in directing. I want to one day direct and only direct."