Bradley Cooper tipped for new crime drama American Blood

The Oscar-nominated actor looks set to star in and produce the movie

Bradley Cooper is reported to be taking on an acting and producing role in new US crime drama American Blood (Getty Images)

Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper is to star and produce in new US crime drama American Blood, according to industry reports.

The US actor, 39, is attached to Andrew Sodroski’s film adaptation of Ben Sanders’ upcoming novel of the same name, film website Deadline has revealed.

American Blood follows New York police officer turned mob informant Marshall Grade, who is dragged into the high-risk investigation of a missing woman while living in the New Mexico witness protection programme.

John Lesher, Adam Kassan, Brendan Deneen and Pouya Shabazian are set to join Cooper in production and Chantal Nong is overseeing the project – currently a 50 page proposal - for Warner Bros, who acquired the rights after competition from another studio and several TV companies.

Sanders’ first book Fallen was published when he was 20. After it became a bestseller in his home country, he wrote two more – By Any Means and Only the Dead.

But American Blood will be the first of his works to be released in the US when MacMillan publishes it in autumn 2015. It is thought to be the first in a potential series of novels which could mean franchise opportunity for the movies.

Cooper, meanwhile, is in the running to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards on Sunday for his performance as a wild FBI agent in David O Russell’s American Hustle.

He will next be seen, or rather heard, as the voice of Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy.