LOS ANGELES  - Diane Lane will play Clark Kent's adoptive mother in the upcoming Superman movie, a considerably younger casting choice than Eva Marie Saint in the 2006 Man of Steel film.

Lane, 46, will star alongside 27-year-old headliner Henry Cavill in the untitled Warner Bros. project, which is set for release in December 2012.

"This was a very important piece of casting for me because Martha Kent is the woman whose values helped shape the man we know as Superman," director Zack Snyder said in a statement.

"We are thrilled to have Diane in the role because she can convey the wisdom and the wonder of a woman whose son has powers beyond her imagination."

Martha Kent and her husband Jonathan adopted young Clark after he came to Earth in a rocket from the planet Krypton. Saint was about 80 when she played the role in 2006's "Superman Returns." In 1978's "Superman," the role went to 57-year-old actress Phyllis Thacker.

The role of Jonathan Kent has not yet been cast.

Lane was in theaters last year with the equine drama "Secretariat," and next stars in the HBO feature "Cinema Verite," opposite Tim Robbins and James Gandolfini. She earned an Oscar nomination for the 2002 drama "Unfaithful."