Pegg joins cast of Ice Age 3

Simon Pegg has joined the cast of the third Ice Age instalment.

The 39-year-old will voice new character Buck, a weasel who helps familiar faces Manny, a woolly mammoth, and Diego, a sabre-tooth tiger, rescue Sid, an IQ-deficient sloth, after he steals a dinosaur egg and falls into a mysterious underground world.

He also recently lent his voice to The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, a much-anticipated animated movie based on the classic children's books by Belgian artists Herge.

Pegg is certainly no stranger to box office success. He starred in and co-wrote UK comedies Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz with director Edgar Wright, and more recently played lead roles in Run Fatboy Run and How to Lose Friends & Alienate People.

His next big-screen appearance will be as the legendary Scotty in J J Abrams' big-budget Star Trek film, due for UK release on May 8th.

Sean William Scott and Queen Latifa will also return for the third film in the Ice Age series entitled Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which is due for a summer release.