Australian actor Chris Hemsworth is to star in Shadow Runner, an action thriller acquired by Columbia Pictures attached with producers Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson.

Details on the plot are being kept under wraps, but it is believed Hemsworth's character will lead an elite team of operatives who take on impossible tasks.

"We think the story is a terrific action thriller for Chris Hemsworth and we know this project is in great hands with Tripp, Beau and Will as they develop the film," said Columbia Pictures production president Hannah Minghella.

Drive writer Hossein Amini - who will executive produce - came up with the initial idea for the movie, with the inspiration being an incident when an Israeli assassination team targeted someone they believed murdered soldiers and stockpiled missiles, eventually tracking him to Dubai, where a 17-man team killed him in the corridor of a luxury hotel. However, Deadline.com reports the film will not directly replicate those events.

Chris can next be seen opposite Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron in Snow White and the Huntsman.