Morgan Freeman and Frank Grillo teaming up for new action thriller

Frank Grillo never seems to stop working, with the action star having appeared in no less than ten movies since the beginning of this year alone, on top of his voice role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s animated series What If…?.. The actor is currently making a rare foray into dramatic territory as he tackles the lead role in a biopic of sports car trailblazer Ferruccio Lamborghini, but he’s back on familiar turf with Paradise Highway, which has just been picked up for distribution by Lionsgate as per Deadline.

Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche headlines the ensemble as a truck driver named Sally, forced by a prison gang to smuggle illegal cargo after they threaten the life of her brother Dennis, as played by Grillo. Fellow Oscar winner Morgan Freeman is also on board as a veteran FBI agent hot on her trail, with a spanner thrown into the works when Sally realizes her package is a teenage girl.

Anna Gutto writes and directs Paradise Highway, with Gotham‘s Cameron Monaghan part of the supporting cast alongside Veronica Ferres, Christiane Seidel and Walker Babington. The setup sounds familiar, but Gutto spent years researching the various components of the story in both the criminal and trucking communities, while the script won the Excellence in Screenwriting award from Columbia University, so it sounds like much more than your average run of the mill genre film.