AceShowbiz -

Hugh Grant's addition to "Cloud Atlas" has just affirmed that the indie film would be star-studded. The actor has signed up to the project which is adapted from David Mitchell's award-winning novel, joining other British talents such as Jim Sturgess and Ben Whishaw.

Also on the cast list are Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon and Hugo Weaving. No character details were given but, like the rest of the movie's cast, the actor will be portraying multiple roles in multiple storylines. Wishaw revealed last month, "I'm doing three. Frobisher in the thirties; a female American in the seventies, in the Luisa Rey section; and a smallish role, where I'm basically an extra, in a modern-day nursing home, in the Timothy Cavendish section."

The shooting begins this month at Germany's Studio Babelsberg, shot in parallel using two complete filmmaking teams. The six interlocking storylines are each set in a different location and a different era, spanning from the 19th century to a post-apocalyptic future.

Andy Wachowski as well as Lana Wachowski co-write and co-direct the movie which is expected to come out in 2013.