Taylor Kitsch boards 'Battleship'

Taylor Kitsch will lead the cast of Peter Berg's board game-inspired blockbuster Battleship.

The Friday Night Lights star is to play Naval commander Alex Hopper, described by The Hollywood Reporter as "wildly spirited" and "a great seaman but a lousy politician".

Jon and Erich Hoeber's script for Battleship finds an international five-ship fleet facing an extra-terrestrial enemy.

The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner had been linked to the lead role in the Universal/Hasbro project.

Kitsch has appeared in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and can next be seen as the eponymous hero in Disney's John Carter Of Mars.