THE bright lights of Hollywood will shine on Weymouth as the town is set to star in Christopher Nolan's war movie Dunkirk.

The exciting news that the Warner Brothers blockbuster is coming to Weymouth was confirmed at a meeting of the Harbour Management Board on Wednesday.

The Echo reported last week that an open casting event in the town was believed to be for the film, which will star Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance and One Direction singer Harry Styles.

The casting call was for a Second World War film being produced by a company called Bodega Bay.

Nolan, the famously secretive director of Inception and The Dark Knight, has used Bodega Bay as a codename during the filming of Dunkirk in France.

Cllr Jason Osborne, Weymouth and Portland Borough Council spokesman for harbour and tourism, said that the town is going from "success story to success story".

He said: "It generates a bit of income for the harbour and the biggest thing is it puts us on the world stage.

"There are a lot of people that do go and visit film sets.

"To be on the modern screen in an epic drama will be fantastic."

A spokesman for casting company 2020 Casting previously told the Echo that the film will be using several Dorset towns as filming locations.

Cllr Osborne added: "I think they are going to film in Swanage and they are using Weymouth Harbour.

"They are doing a couple of night shoots and a day shoot."

Cllr Colin Huckle, chairman of the Harbour Management Board, said that Weymouth's starring role will "show what a great, unique harbour we have".

He added: "It is advertising for the resort and it could help boost our tourist economy.

"It could even encourage more visiting yachts."

Dorset has been at the centre of a number of major motion picture productions over the years.

Portland was used as a central location for Richard Curtis comedy The Boat That Rocked and Bovington Tank Museum allowed their Tiger 131 vehicle to be used in Fury, starring Brad Pitt.

This marked the first time that a genuine, operational Tiger tank rather than a prop had been used on the big screen since 1946.

West Bay is currently getting its share of the spotlight as the stars of Broadchurch are in town to shoot the show's third and final season.

Dunkirk is due to be released into UK cinemas on July 21, 2017.

Warner Brothers could not be reached for comment.