Hugh Jackman is set to reunite with X-Men: First Class filmmaker Matthew Vaughn in a new biopic about bespectacled British Olympic ski jumper Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards.

The Australian star has reportedly been cast as Chuck Berghorn, a down-and-out American ski expert who helped to train Edwards for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada.

Acting newcomer Taron Egerton, who features in Vaughn’s upcoming Colin Firth movie Kingsman: The Secret Service, will portray Edwards, according to TheWrap.

Filmmakers are also rumoured to be interested in casting Mr Turner actor Timothy Spall as Edwards’ father.

Vaughn will serve as the project’s producer, while Dexter Fletcher will direct when shooting begins later this year.

Edwards became the first British sportsman to compete as a ski jumper at the Calgary Games, but finished in last place in both the events he entered.