Luke Hemsworth Actioner GUNNER Casts Morgan Freeman For Spring Shoot
Georges BiardWikimedia Commons
New Dimitri Logothetis action thriller Gunner is casting up as of Thursday with the addition of Morgan Freeman according to a new news release. The Academy Award-winner whose credits partly include Million Dollar Baby and The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, joins lead actor Luke Hemsworth with a script by Gary Scott Thompson (The Fast and The Furious).
In Gunner, we follow 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!
Logothetis, best known for shepherding two Kickboxer reboots starring Alain Moussi as well as Jiu Jitsu co-starring Nicolas Cage, is producing with Joel Shapiro (Killerman, Dear Dictator), and Logothetis. Highland Film Group is handling worldwide rights to the thriller, launching at EFM with cameras set to roll 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.
Freeman is repped by Fred Specktor of CAA and Jason Sloane of Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
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