EXCLUSIVE: Michael Keaton is set to direct and star opposite Morgan Freeman in Rode to Ruin, an original Western thriller written by R. Dean McCreary.

Keaton will portray retired U.S. Marshal Henry Tillman, and Freeman is a wanted outlaw named Joseph Mulberry. The marshal searched 40 years for his wife’s killer, and the cold trail finally heats up and leads him to an aging outlaw losing his memory — and to a buried truth neither man may survive.

Their reunion marks the first time in nearly four decades that the two actors have shared the screen; they did 1988’s Clean and Sober together. Keaton previously directed Knox Goes Away and The Merry Gentleman. Freeman’s forays into the Old West include Unforgiven, and he’s currently co-starring in the superb ensemble cast of Taylor Sheridan’s Lioness.

“When I first read it, I thought, this is really good — and there’s more here for Morgan and me to mine together,” said Keaton. “Once we talked, it became clear we were on the same page. Just as The Shawshank Redemption isn’t simply a prison movie, Rode to Ruin isn’t simply a Western. It’s a story with a lot of layers that happens to unfold in the West.”

Rode to Ruin will be produced by Lori McCreary, Keaton, Kelly Mendelsohn, and Gary Lucchesi. The film is a production of Revelations Entertainment and George & Leona Productions. 

Said McCreary: “Rode to Ruin is a deeply human story about forgiveness, revenge, redemption and the choices people make when time is running out. The prospect of Michael directing and sharing the screen with Morgan is everything we hoped this film could become.”

Keaton is represented by CAA and JSSK, Freeman by CAA and Sloane Offer Weber and Dern.