Kiefer Sutherland is set to star alongside Al Pacino and Ever Anderson (“Black Widow”) in “Father Joe,” a new action thriller set in 1990s Manhattan, written and produced by Luc Besson (“Leon: The Professional”).
Filming on “Father Joe” begins in mid-October under the direction of Barthélémy Grossmann (“Arthur: Curse”).
The film is produced by LB Production and EuropaCorp, whose credits include Besson’s hit action thrillers “Taken” with Liam Neeson, “Lucy” with Scarlett Johansson and “Leo: The Professional.” The latter, which saw Natalie Portman deliver a breakthrough performance alongside Jean Reno in 1994, is also set in New York.
Sutherland, who also joins the project as a producer, stars in “Father Joe” as a man of faith who wages a violent war against the city’s underworld. Pacino plays a powerful mob boss whose empire collides with Father Joe’s crusade. Anderson, the rising star of “Peter Pan & Wendy” and “Black Widow,” plays a young woman caught between danger and redemption under Joe’s guidance.
Sutherland said: “I have been a fan of Luc Besson since ‘Subway’. As a director and screenwriter, he has a unique ability to combine drama and action without sacrificing either. I am very excited about this opportunity to work with him as the screenwriter of ‘Father Joe’ and director Barthélémy Grossmann. I can’t wait to get started.”
Besson recently created “Dracula: a Love Story,” an ambitious gothic horror romance starring Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz. The film, which sold worldwide, recorded strong box office performances in several international markets, including Latin America and Russia, where it ranks as the country’s third biggest international hit since 2022, grossing $7 million since its September 11 release. In Greece, where it debuted last week, it debuted second behind Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another.”
