Tom Hardy to play Al Capone in film by Fantastic Four director

The biographical feature will focus on the last days of the gangster's life

(Getty Images)

Tom Hardy is to add to his ever-growing repertoire of challenging performances by taking on the role of Al Capone in the final days of the gangster's life.

Deadline reports that Fonzo will be set in 1947 when the Chicago mobster was stricken with dementia at the age of 48; the film's title refers to the nickname of Al Capone whose full name was Alfonse.

Capone has seen many on-screen incarnations, most famously Robert De Niro in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables. Most recently, Stephen Graham played the notorious criminal in HBO series Boardwalk Empire.

This isn't the first time Hardy's been cast in the role; he was originally due to play Capone in Cicero, the first of a series of films that never got off the ground. Not that the gangster role is a departure for Hardy - in the past few years he's played Alfie Solomons in BBC2 period series Peaky Blinders as well as both Reggie and Ronnie Kray in British biopic Legend.

The as-of-yet untitled film is set to be directed by Chronicle filmmakerJosh Trank whose most recent film Fantastic Four tanked at the global box office.

Hardy will next be seen in the 1814-set Taboo, a new series from Peaky creator Stephen Knight. He'll play James Delaney, an adventurer who uncovers a dark famil conspiracy upon returning home from Africa with the aim of avenging his father's death. It'll premiere on the BBC in 2017.