Tommy Lee Jones to play General Douglas MacArthur in The Emperor

Tommy Lee Jones will play legendary General Douglas MacArthur in director Peter Webber’s post-World War II historical epic film The Emperor, opposite Matthew Fox, who’s already signed on to star in the film, according to THR. Webber is set to begin production on The Emperor this month in New Zealand and Japan.

The Emperor is set in Japan amid the tensions that immediately follow the Japanese surrender at the end of war. Fox plays General Bonner Fellers, a member of MacArthur’s staff and a leading expert on Japan. Fellers made a decision of historical importance: Whether Emperor Hirohito should be tried and hanged as a war criminal. Interwoven throughout the political saga is Feller’s quest to find Aya, a Japenese exchange student he met and fell in love with years earlier in the U.S.

Tommy Lee Jones is next set to return to the role of Agent K in Barry Sonnenfeld’s sci-fi action comedy Men in Black III, which is due in theaters May 25, 2012. Will Smith, Alice Eve, Josh Brolin, Emma Thompson, Jemaine Clement, Rip Torn and Bill Hader – who plays Andy Warhol – join him for the franchise sequel.

Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black III
Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black III