Liam Neeson has joined cast of “Battleship,” the action-adventure saga now filming in Hawaii, Universal Pictures announced today.

The 58-year-old Neeson, who earlier this year played Zeus in “Clash of the Titans” and Col. Hannibal Smith in “The A Team,” will star as the character known as “Admiral Shane.”

“Battleship” also features Taylor Kitsch as a Naval officer named Hopper who is engaged to the admiral’s daughter, Sam, played by Brooklyn Decker.

Alexander Skarsgard and Rihanna also star in the film.

Peter Berg, who directed “Hancock” and “Friday Night Lights,” is directing. “Battleship,” loosely based on the Hasbro boardgame of the same name, has been described by Universal as an epic story that unfolds across the seas,
in the skies and on land “as our planet fights for survival against a superior force.”

“Battleship” will be filming today, tomorrow, Thursday and Sept. 15 aboard a real battleship, the USS Missouri, forcing the closure of the popular tourist attraction, the Battleship Missouri Memorial Association announced.

The film is expected in theaters in May 2012.