Cameras have started rolling on an ambitious new adaptation of Call of the Wild, and we've just learned Karen Gillan has been added to the cast.

Deadline reports the Doctor Who and Avengers star will join Harrison Ford and Dan Stevens in a movie version of Jack London's famous 1903 novel set during the Klondike Gold Rush. The big-budget film will be a mix of CGI and live action, and directed by How to Train Your Dragon's Chris Sanders from a screenplay by Oscar nominee Michael Green (Logan, American Gods).

Karen will play Mercedes, a woman trekking across Canada in the hunt for gold, while Harrison plays John Thorndike, a more experienced outdoorsman and prospector. She confirmed the news herself yesterday (September 27) on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/karengillan/status/1045350789835886593

The dog emojis are spot on, as anyone who's read the book knows. Its central character is neither Harrison's nor Karen's, but a dog called Buck, who's stolen from a loving family in California and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska. His character will presumably be the "CGI" portion of this on-screen version.

There's still no word yet on who will "play" Buck, though the producers are keeping suspiciously quiet about Dan Stevens's role in the movie. And let's face it: He's got form playing hairy beasts, if his role in Beauty and the Beast is anything to go by.

But it's more likely he's playing Hal, Mercedes' fellow American prospector and a very-human owner of Buck. That would mean we get to see both him and Karen on screen of course, though we'd miss out on his dog impression. Woof!

Call of the Wild is due to be released on December 25, 2019.

Are you excited to see Karen and Dan in a film together?