Samuel L Jackson is set to play an army doctor

The 57-year-old star will play an army medic who has difficulty resuming his normal life in Home of the Brave, says Hollywood newspaper Daily Variety.

The project has yet to secure a distributor, but is scheduled to begin filming in Morocco next month.

Few film-makers have tackled the Iraq war, though recent Hollywood release Jarhead was about the 1991 Gulf War.

The new film is to be produced by Irvine Winkler, whose other credits include Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull and Rocky, which starred Sylvester Stallone.

Jackson, who was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame earlier this year, has appeared in 90 films during his 30-year career, including Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction and the three Star Wars prequels.

He screened his 2005 comedy The Man to refugees from Hurricane Katrina in the southern US in an effort to boost their spirits in the aftermath of the disaster.