“Straight Outta Compton” actor Corey Hawkins has been cast in the lead role in the reboot of TV series “24”.

The “Straight Outta Compton” actor is now taking over from Kiefer Sutherland, who starred in the original, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Hawkins, 27, will play Eric Carter, a former Army Ranger who turns to the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) for help to stop a large-scale terror attack in the US.

Fox co-chairman and CEO Dana Walden said: "There's a time jump, a new organisation, a completely different story. It's a contemporary story about the potential to activate sleeper cells in the US. There are nods in the pilot to prior CTU agents, but no ongoing characters."

Speaking earlier about the reboot, Sutherland insisted he was excited about plans to take the show in a new direction.

He said: "I have said from the beginning that the real star of '24' is the idea, and I mean that wholeheartedly. I have every faith they'll do something cool and clever."

The new series will comprise 12 episodes.