Washington, Feb 4 - Felicity Jones is set to play the female lead in the upcoming ' Star Wars' stand-alone film.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lucasfilm and Disney have brought in the 31-year-old Oscar-nominated actress for the project, which will be helmed by Gareth Edwards from a script by Chris Weitz, who replaced the first draft' writer Gary Whitta.

The news follows the secret meeting, reading and testing that were going on for the role last week in Los Angeles, which also had actresses Tatiana Maslany and Rooney Mara among others involved.

It is believed that Aaron Paul and Edgar Ramirez are being considered for the male lead in the film, which has v=been scheduled to release in December 2016.

Jones is currently making the awards season rounds for 'The Theory of Everything', where she plays first wife of physicist Stephen Hawking, Jane Hawking, for which gained a best actress Oscar nomination. (ANI)