Lord Olivier's career spanned over 50 years

Footage of Lord Olivier from various films will be used to create a villainous leader of killer robots in the film due out in September.

New dialogue was recorded by another actor for Lord Olivier's voice.

Jude Law, who stars in the film, said film-makers used Olivier because few other actors possessed his authority.

Robots

"He plays my nemesis. And he's referred to throughout the movie so you know eventually you're going to get to see this bad guy," Law said at the annual Comic-Con International sci-fi convention in the US.

"It builds up, and you only see him in the last minutes, and he's in hologram form."

Law, who plays the Sky Captain, said it was a dream come true to get as close to performing alongside Olivier as possible.

Law is now an A-list Hollywood actor

The film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Michael Gambon.

Sky Captain originally started out as a six-minute reel of CGI robots trampling through New York City, put together by first-time director Kerry Conran.

Producer Jon Avnet came across the reel and approached Conran with the idea of turning it into a full-length movie.

Conran did not go to New York while making Sky Captain - he has never visited the city.

He digitally recreated the metropolis using old photographs, some of which were used as backdrops.