Ice Cube and Tommy Lee Jones are joining forces for Outside Man, a new crime thriller from Oscar-winning filmmaker Brian Helgeland, with Focus Features acquiring worldwide rights to the upcoming film.
The studio has picked up the worldwide rights to the project from Teton Ridge Entertainment, with Universal Pictures International set to handle international distribution. Production is expected to begin in November.
Written and directed by Helgeland, Outside Man will explore themes of redemption, friendship and the consequences of a life left behind.
Ice Cube stars as Ruben Bowman, a former Chicago mob enforcer who is released from prison determined to start over. Looking to escape his criminal past, Ruben heads to rural Texas, where he finds work with Gus Wanamaker, a skilled furniture craftsman and retired Texas Ranger played by Tommy Lee Jones.
What begins as a fresh start develops into an unlikely friendship between the two men. However, their new lives are threatened when their respective pasts begin to catch up with them, putting their relationship — and Ruben’s attempt at redemption — in jeopardy.
The film reunites Jones with Helgeland following their previous collaboration on Finest Kind. Helgeland is an acclaimed screenwriter whose credits include L.A. Confidential, Mystic River and Man on Fire, while his directing credits include Payback, A Knight’s Tale and 42.
Outside Man is being produced by Jillian Share and Jen Gorton for Teton Ridge Entertainment, alongside Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz for Cube Vision and Bill Gerber. Helgeland, Justin Bursch, Madeleine Moore and Ben Hurwitz are serving as executive producers.
The project continues Teton Ridge Entertainment’s growing focus on stories rooted in the American West, while also adding another major title to Focus Features’ upcoming slate.
With production scheduled to get underway in November, Outside Man is now moving toward cameras with two very different screen presences at its center. The combination of Ice Cube’s imposing presence and Jones’ veteran gravitas could make the unlikely relationship between Ruben and Gus one of the film’s biggest draws.
No release date has been announced yet.
