Broadbent's films include Moulin Rouge, Hot Fuzz and Brazil

The actor will star alongside Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone and John Hurt in the adventure movie, which started filming earlier this week.

The as-yet-untitled project reunites director Steven Spielberg and executive producer George Lucas, and is due for release on 22 May 2008.

Broadbent, 57, was awarded a supporting actor Oscar for 2001's Iris.

His other films include Moulin Rouge, The Crying Game, Hot Fuzz and Bridget Jones's Diary.

Earlier this year, he won a best actor Bafta for his portrayal of Lord Longford - who campaigned to have Moors murderer Myra Hindley released from prison - in the TV drama Longford.

The original Indiana Jones trilogy, a tribute to Saturday morning B-movies, made more than $1.1bn (�560m) at the box office in the 1980s.

It began in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark, in which archaeologist Jones raced around the world to find the ark of the covenant before it fell into the hands of the Nazis.

Rumours of a fourth chapter in the saga circulated for several years, before the film was finally announced in December 2006.

LucasFilm recently announced that Sir Sean Connery - who played Indiana Jones' bookish father in the franchise's third instalment - would not reprise his role in the new movie.