Kevin Bacon has signed on for the Johnny Depp-starring crime drama Black Mass.

Director Scott Cooper's (Crazy Heart) movie stars Depp as notorious mobster Whitey Bulger, who went on the run after 20 years as an FBI informer.

Bacon has been attached to Black Mass to play FBI Special Agent Charles McGuire, Digital Spy reported citing Deadline.

McGuire had direct authority over FBI agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton), who worked closely with Whitey Bulger during the informant's rise in the Boston crime scene.

Black Mass also stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Massachusetts state senator and Whitey's brother Billy Bulger, while Adam Scott is playing FBI agent Robert Fitzpatrick.

The movie is currently being shot on location in Boston.

Black Mass is expected to open next year in the US and the UK.