John Krasinski has joined the cast of Kathryn Bigelow's new movie about the 1967 Detroit riots.

Will Poulter

Will Poulter

The film is set against the backdrop of the famous July disturbance which erupted as a result of rage at apparent institutionalised racism following a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar, then known as a 'blind pig'.

The impressive cast already includes John Boyega, Will Poulter, Jack Reynor and Ben O'Toole.

Boyega posted on Twitter on Tuesday (13.09.16) that he had wrapped his scenes but it seems Bigelow still has more work to do on the project after adding Krasinski - who is married to British actress Emily Blunt, with whom he has two daughters Hazel and Violet.

Few details have been released about the plot, other than that it will have multiple plot threads focusing on different characters. It is believed Poulter, O'Toole and Reynor will have significant screen time.

It is scheduled to be released next year to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the riot.

For the project, Bigelow has reunited with writer Mark Boal, who previously worked with her on 'Zero Dark Thirty' and 'The Hurt Locker'.

Annapurna Pictures is backing the movie and will be tasked with finding a distribution outlet for the film once it's complete and The Hurt Locker's' Greg Shapiro is acting as executive producer.