Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman (Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby) is set to join Luke Hemsworth (HBO’s sci-fi western “Westworld”) in the upcoming actioner Gunner, it was announced today. The film is directed by Dimitri Logothetis (Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxer: Retaliation) and is written by Gary Scott Thompson, the creator of The Fast and Furious franchise.
Gunner is produced by Joel Shapiro (Killerman with Liam Hemsworth, Dear Dictator with Michael Caine), and Logothetis. Highland Film Group is handling worldwide rights to the thriller, launching sales at the upcoming European Film Market. Production is set to commence this spring in Alabama.
“Working again with such an incomparable talent like Morgan Freeman is fantastic and we’re thrilled to team up with him for a second time in such a different and exciting role. Writer Gary Scott Thompson has taken audiences on a number of thrill rides with The Fast and Furious and his screenplay for Gunner does not disappoint! And with action maven Dimitri Logothetis at the helm, we’re ready to roll on this high-octane story about a war hero who will do anything to protect his family,” said Highland Film Group COO Delphine Perrier.
Logothetis adds, “I feel so privileged to have Morgan Freeman in Gunner. One of my most favorite and unforgettable performances of his is when he played the villain ‘Thaddeus Bradley’ in Now You See Me. Freeman is deceivingly complex and perfect for Gunner.”
Gunner follows Special Ops veteran Lee Gunner (Hemsworth) who takes his two sons on a fishing trip to reconnect. The trip soon turns awry when the boys stumble upon a massive drug running operation and are kidnapped by Dobbs, the son of the gang’s kingpin Kendric Ryker (Freeman) who runs the organization from prison. With no one but himself to retaliate and with elite combat skills they won’t see coming, an enraged Gunner wreaks havoc to rescue his two sons from Ryker’s gang. You don’t cross Gunner!
Freeman is represented by Fred Specktor of CAA and Jason Sloane of Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
Highland Film Group’s current sales slate also includes Simon West’s action comedy Old Guy starring Christoph Waltz; Audrey Cummings’ western action film Place of Bones starring Heather Graham and Tom Hopper; William Eubank’s action thriller Land of Bad starring Russell Crowe, Liam Hemsworth and Luke Hemsworth; Ben Brewer’s survival action-thriller Sand and Stones starring Nicolas Cage; Rod Blackhurst’s Blood For Dust starring Scoot McNairy, Kit Harington and Josh Lucas; Adam Cooper’s crime thriller Sleeping Dogs starring Russell Crowe; Rusty Cundieff’s 57 Seconds starring Morgan Freeman and Josh Hutcherson; John Stalberg Jr.’s Muzzle starring Aaron Eckhart; Andy Fickman’s One True Loves starring Simu Liu, Phillipa Soo and Luke Bracey and Adrian Grünberg’s shark actioner The Black Demon starring Josh Lucas.
