Rowan Atkinson is to star in 'Johnny English 2'.

Universal Pictures has given the green light to the project, which would be a follow-up to 2003's 'Johnny English' - a spoof spy thriller directed by Peter Howitt and starring Atkinson as the titular character.

The project will be directed by Oliver Parker, with Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan from Working Title signed up to produce.

'Johnny English' only made $28 million in the US, but grossed $161 million worldwide, making it a desirable investment for Universal, which has seen movies 'State of Play' and 'Public Enemies' underperform recently, Variety reports.

Atkinson is best known for his role as bumbling TV character Mr Bean, but has starred in a number of Hollywood movies including 'Scooby-Doo', 'Love Actually' and 'Rat Race'.

'Johnny English 2' is scheduled to begin shooting in August, and follows on from the studio scrapping plans to make thriller 'Cartel', which was due to begin filming in five weeks time.