Will Smith cast in Bounty

Will Smith has been cast in 'Bounty'.

The 46-year-old star, who recently featured alongside Australian actress Margot Robbie in 'Focus', has agreed to appear in the action-thriller set in Boston.

'Bounty' centres on a man - played by Smith - who is wrongly convicted of murder, but escapes from prison in a bid to prove his own innocence, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

However, his task becomes virtually impossible when the widow of the man he is accused of killing puts a $10 million bounty on his head.

The casting comes shortly after Will confessed he's come to see his career in a different light following the negative reaction to the 2013 sci-fi film 'After Earth', in which he appeared alongside his son Jaden.

He explained: "I was a guy who, when I was fifteen my girlfriend cheated on me, and I decided that if I was number one, no woman would ever cheat on me.

"All I have to do is make sure that no one's ever better than me and I'll have the love that my heart yearns for.

"And I never released that and moved into a mature way of looking at the world and my artistry and love until the failure of After Earth, when I had to accept that it's not a good source of creation."