Jennifer Aniston joins Iraq war drama The Yellow Birds – as Benedict Cumberbatch abandons project

Jennifer Aniston is set to star in upcoming war epic The Yellow Birds, alongside fellow newcomer to the project, Jack Huston. But Sherlock fans might be a little disappointed to know that Benedict Cumberbatch has had to drop out of the movie due to his busy schedule, which includes titles such as Doctor Strange and Jungle Book: Origins.

Editor and director David Lowery is bringing the story to screen from Iraq war veteran author Kevin Powers' novel of the same name which was originally published in 2012. It has also been reported that it will be helmed by Alexandre Moors. Moors is a film-maker best known for his work on numerous shorts and the music video Kendrick Lamar: I. The movie is likely to start filming early next year, once Lowery completes production on his current project, Disney's updated version of Pete's Dragon.

Much like the book, the film will follow soldier John Bartle as he serves in the army from 2003 to 2009. The plot sees him situated in bases in several real-life locations that were of significance in the Iraq war such as Fort Dix, New Jersey; Kaiserslautern, Germany; Richmond Virginia, Fort Knox, Kentucky and Al Tafar in Iraq. After a little while, Bartle bonds with fellow private Daniel "Murph" Murphy and the story focuses on the friendship between the two young men and the promises they make to each other, and their families to protect one another in the horrors of the war.

Huston will be replacing previously enlisted Cumberbatch as Staff Sergeant Sterling, one of Bartle's superiors who oversees the lesser-experienced operatives, while Aniston will reportedly be playing Murphy's mother. Existing cast members Tye Sheridan (Mud) and Alden Ehrenreich (Beautiful Creatures) will appear as lead Bartle and his friend and Murphy respectively.

Huston is best known for his roles in American drama series Boardwalk Empire and Oscar-winning movie American Hustle. He has just completed production on yet another book-to-movie adaptation Pride And Prejudice And Zombies. Aniston was last seen reprising her role as Dr Julia Harris in zany comedy Horrible Bosses 2 and has numerous upcoming projects planned including a spin-off of Mean Girls, Mean Moms.