Hollywood actor Forest Whitaker will play Louis Armstrong in a new biopic about the legendary jazz musician.

What A Wonderful World, named after one of Armstrong's songs, will follow the performer's career from his upbringing in New Orleans to his death in 1971.

Whitaker will also direct the film, while Oscar Cohen, executive of the Armstrong estate and the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, will act as an executive producer.

Armstrong's estate has given its full blessing to the movie, which is being produced by Legende, the French company responsible for the Oscar-winning Edith Piaf biopic, La Vie en Rose.

In a statement, Whitaker said: "Armstrong left a monumental mark on our lives and our culture.

“He lived an amazing life and, through his art, shifted the way music was played and would be heard after him, not just here in the US but all over the world."

Whitaker won an Oscar in 2007 for his role in The Last King Of Scotland but has only previously worked as director on three films.