Michael Keaton to Direct, Star Alongside Morgan Freeman in ‘Rode to Ruin’ Western

Here comes a project with potential—Michael Keaton is set to direct and star opposite Morgan Freeman in “Rode to Ruin,” an original Western thriller written by R. Dean McCreary.

According to Deadline, “Keaton will portray retired Marshal Henry Tillman, and Freeman is a wanted outlaw named Joseph Mulberry. The U.S. Marshal searched forty 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.”

Keaton and Freeman are reuniting for the first time in almost 40 years—they both starred in 1988’s “Clean and Sober.” Keaton recently directed two features, “Knox Goes Away” and “The Merry Gentleman.” It’s also great to see Freeman, impactfully memorable in “Unforgiven,” tackling the Western genre on the big screen again.

“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.”

Freeman recently told The New York Times that he would “overlook a mediocre script” if “they pay you enough.” Hopefully, the script for Keaton’s film is an outlier.

Anyway, let’s cut Freeman some slack. He’s 89. One of the great and most recognizable actors of the last 40 years. From the very late ‘80s to the end of the aughts, he was in countless Oscar contenders. The go-to character actor of his heyday. Maybe Keaton has concocted a great role for him here.

SIDE NOTE: Keaton makes an unintentionally absurd cameo as an imprisoned serial killer in Netflix’s recently released “The Whisper Man,” which hit the platform Friday. The entire film is tonally off, but Keaton’s appearance felt like the icing on the cake.