Washington will take to the New York stage in April in the August Wilson play, which centres around U.S. race-relations in the 1950s.
The original 1987 production starred James Earl Jones as patriarch Troy Maxson, Mary Alice as his wife and Courtney B. Vance as his son. It won both the Tony Award for best play and the Pulitzer Prize for drama.
Washington was last on Broadway in 2005 in a revival of Julius Caesar, in which he played Brutus.
The new production will be directed by Kenny Leon, who directed Wilson's Radio Golf and Gem of the Ocean on Broadway.