George Clooney is co-producing The Jacket

The former ER star will co-produce a film entitled The Jacket, starring Adrian Brody and Keira Knightley and directed by John Maybury.

Culture Minister Frank McAveety confirmed that shooting for the �19m production will take place at Scottish locations from January to March 2004.

A former mental hospital near Broxburn in West Lothian is among the locations earmarked for the film, which is about Gulf War veteran Starks (Adrian Brody), who is accused of a murder he does not remember committing.

Starks is sent to a psychiatric hospital in the United States where he is placed under the supervision of a Dr Becker who uses a torture device known as The Jacket.

Brody won an Oscar for his lead role in the acclaimed film The Pianist, while Knightley starred in Bend it Like Beckham and Pirates of the Caribbean.

The film will be produced by Clooney and Steven Soderbergh's Section Eight company in conjunction with Mandalay Pictures and German company VIP Meidenfonds.

Scotland took the project by the throat and decided that it was coming here. In the end it was an easy decision Peter McAleese UK co-producer

Clooney, 42, who shot to stardom in the US hospital series ER, has since won acclaim for roles in movies including Oh Brother where Art Thou and Ocean's Eleven.

He is currently starring opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones in the Coen brothers film Intolerable Cruelty.

Details of filming for The Jacket were announced at a joint press conference in Glasgow by the film's UK co-producer Peter McAleese, Mr McAveety and representatives of Scottish Screen and the Glasgow Film Office.

Mr McAleese said the production team had looked at locations in London, Wales and Romania.

However, he said: "Scotland took the project by the throat and decided that it was coming here. In the end it was an easy decision."

Mr McAveety said: "This news is simply fantastic for Scotland, fantastic for those involved in the film industry in Scotland and fantastic for filmgoers.

"There are many spin-offs associated with this film, a large crew recruited in Scotland will be employed for this production, hotels in shoot locations will feel the benefits and so too will local shops and restaurants.