LONDON – Hugh Grant is taking a break from his campaigning for a rigorous inquiry into alleged phone-hacking to get back to acting.

Grant is among the myriad top British talent such as Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess and Ben Whishaw to join the cast of Cloud Atlas, the big-budget indie adaptation of David Mitchell's award-winning novel.

Tom Tykwer and Andy and Lana Wachowski have co-written the script and will co-direct the film, which features six interlocking storylines, each set in a different location and a different era, spanning from the 19th century to a post-apocalyptic future.

Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Ben Whishaw,Susan Sarandon and Hugo Weaving are among Cloud's burgeoning ensemble cast.

Shooting will take place in Glasgow, Scotland -- which recently played host to Brad Pitt starrer World War Z, Spain and Germany, with two full units working simultaneously.

Tykwer's X Filme shingle is producing Cloud Atlas. Warner Bros. will release the film domestically and X Filme will unleash the title in Germany.

A Company has picked up Russian and East European rights. Focus Features is handling sales in the rest of the world.

One of the biggest projects ever to be produced out of Germany, Cloud Atlas has so far received nearly $3 million (€2.1 million) in production financing from Germany's many film subsidy bodies. The film is also set to receive around $8 million (€6 million) in tax credits from Germany's production tax break scheme, the DFFF.