Tom Hiddleston circling The Crow remake

The Avengers star Tom Hiddleston is in negotiations to swoop into the lead role in a planned remake of cult classic The Crow.

Bradley Cooper had previously been tipped for the project, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with filmmaker David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook.

The re-imagining of the 1994 thriller stalled as producers considered casting Mark Wahlberg and Channing Tatum to play Eric Draven, who returns from the dead to track down the gang which killed his fiancee.

Reports now suggest Hiddleston is in talks for the job, which famously cost original star Brandon Lee his life after a prop gun accident in March 1993.

According to TheWrap.com, the British actor recently met with executives at Relativity Media, the company behind the remake, and is keen to take on the part.

Spanish filmmaker F. Javier Gutierrez is attached to direct. The movie has yet to secure a release date.