Taken, Peppermint and District B13 helmer Pierre Morel is shooting action comedy Freelance this week in Colombia, and joining the headlining duo of John Cena and Alison Brie is actor Juan Pablo Raba (Peppermint, “Narcos”). The film is being co-financed by Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios along with Endurance Media, whose Steve Richards is producing alongside Sentient Entertainment’s Renee Tab and Christopher Tuffin.
Penned by Jacob Lentz (“Jimmy Kimmel Live!”) in his feature writing debut, Freelance follows a special forces operator (Cena) who decides to retire from the Army and start a family back in the states. After several years of mortgage payments, school drop offs, backyard barbecues and trying to conform to life in suburbia, he decides to come out of retirement to take a gig providing security for a female journalist (Brie) as she interviews a cruel dictator who may or may not have ordered the attack on him and his men. When a military coup breaks out in the middle of the interview, the three are forced to escape into the jungle where they must survive the elements, the military and one another.
“So pleased to have such a great cast coming together on Freelance and to be working with such accomplished actors,” said Richards. “With Pierre Morel at the helm, John, Alison and Juan Pablo make a perfect trio for this fun adventure!”
AGC International, the international sales arm of AGC Studios, closed a raft of deals on the highly anticipated action-comedy when it launched at the virtual AFM market last November.
Raba recently appeared in the action-thriller The Marksman alongside Liam Neeson. On television, he is known for his starring role as Ricky Ortiz on the History Channel’s military drama “Six”, and for his role as Gustavo, on the hit series “Narcos”, and can be seen in Netflix’s original Colombian series, “Distrito Salvaje,” in which he stars and also executive produces. He is repped by The Gersh Agency and Impression Entertainment.