Sam Jackson and Michael Keaton board thriller The Asset alongside Maggie Q

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Today in the realm of exciting casting calls, it's been announced that Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, and Maggie Q are joining forces for an upcoming A-list thriller titled THE ASSET. Hailing from CASINO ROYALE director Martin Campbell, the new project from Millennium Films – the outfit behind THE EXPENDABLES franchise – will find the aforementioned trio entering a sleak assassin's tale, in which a killer who roams free is hunted by experts in the art of extermination.

Written by Richard Wenk (THE EQUALIZER 2, THE MECHANIC), the story follows Anna (Maggie Q), an assassin raised by Moody (Jackson) after he discovered her in the aftermath of a massacre in Saigon. For years, they traversed the globe and completed high-profile contracts. But when he is murdered, Anna must return to Vietnam to track down his killer, and, in the process, teams up with a mysterious figure from her past (Keaton) to bring the killer to justice.

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Producing Cambell's latest action vehicle are Arthur Sarkissian (RUSH HOUR), Moshe Diamant (TIMECOP, HARD TARGET), and Rob Van Norden (RAMBO: LAST BLOOD). Meanwhile, Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, Jeffrey Greenstein, Jonathan Yunger will executive produce, with Lonnie Ramati serving as co-executive producer.

Currently, Campbell has two other projects that've recently entered pre-production. The first is another action-thriller titled ANA, in which a hacker and her partners in crime accidentally steal millions from a crime boss, and are forced into hiding to train for their inevitable confrontation. So far, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA actress Li Gong is the only star that is officially attached to the project.

Campbell's other in-the-works project is a war drama called ACROSS THE RIVER AND INTO THE TREES. Starring Pierce Brosnan, Maria Valverde, and Laura Morante, the film is set in Italy during WWII, and focuses on American Army Col. Richard Cantwell, a bona fide war hero who faces news of his terminal illness with stoic disregard. Determined to spend his weekend in quiet solitude, he commandeers a military driver to facilitate what is likely a final duck hunting trip and visit to his old haunts in Venice. As Cantwell's plans begin to unravel, a chance encounter with a young countess begins to kindle in him the hope of renewal. Based on the last full-length novel Hemingway published in his lifetime, ACROSS THE RIVER AND INTO THE TREES captures a fleeting moment of immortality where time stands still. Naturally, the story aims to contain the great Hemingway themes of love, war, youth and age.

We'll be sure to bring you more details concerning THE ASSET as they come about. For now, filming on the project is expected to begin this January across London, Bucharest and Da Nang in Vietnam.