John Travolta to star in new action film 'I Am Wrath'

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- John Travolta will star in new action thriller I Am Wrath.

The 61-year-old actor will portray a man who seeks vigilante justice on his wife's killer after a group of corrupt police officers fail to catch the suspect. Nicolas Cage was previously considered for the project but never officially committed.

I Am Wrath is based on a story by French film editor Yvan Gauthier, with Chuck Russell (Eraser) as director and Michael Mendelsohn, Nick Vallelonga and Richard Salvatore as producers. Production will begin in Columbus, Ohio, in mid-March.

"This has a major Hollywood actor with lots of history," mayor Michael B. Coleman said in a statement. "And if we combine this film with other efforts and keep trying to go down this road, it can help be a catalyst for additional film and television opportunities."

Travolta last appeared with Robert De Niro in Killing Season, and is attached to portray O.J. Simpson defense attorney Robert Shapiro in new Ryan Murphy series American Crime Story. The actor will return as a presenter at the 2015 Academy Awards, despite his "Adele Dazeem" flub in 2014.