Netflix acquires rights to 'Wheelman' starring Frank Grillo

CANNES, France, May 17 (UPI) -- Netflix says it has acquired the worldwide rights to the action thriller Wheelman starring and produced by Frank Grillo.

Principal photography is to begin in the fall with Jeremy Rush directing from a screenplay he wrote. The film casts Grillo as the titular getaway driver for a bank robbery gone awry.

Joe Carnahan is producing the film alongside The Solution Entertainment Group's Myles Nestel. J. Todd Harris, Chady Mattar and Scott Silver are executive producing.

"We are looking forward to working with this stellar team to bring this action-packed film to our members around the world," Robert Roy, Netflix's vice president of global film, said in a statement Tuesday.

"Netflix is literally reinventing the game in terms of distribution and the sheer number of subscribers they reach and the number of viewers that will ultimately see Wheelman is really exciting to me. I couldn't be happier and in terms of a creative partner, Ted Sarandos and his team are incomparable," Carnahan said.

Best known globally as the star of The Purge film franchise, Grillo was most recently seen in Marvel's Captain America: Civil War. His other credits include The Grey, Warrior, Zero Dark Thirty, End of Watch, Disconnect, Collision, Homefront, Breakout Kings, The Gates, The Kill Point, Prison Break and The Shield.