Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule” Begins Production

Cameras rolled today on esteemed filmmaker Clint Eastwood’s next feature film, a drama entitled “The Mule,” from Warner Bros. Pictures and Imperative Entertainment. In addition to directing, the veteran actor will step in front of the lens again, alongside fellow stars Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Peña and Dianne Wiest, as well as Alison Eastwood, Taissa Farmiga and Ignacio Serricchio.

Eastwood stars as Earl Stone, a man in his 80s who is broke, alone, and facing foreclosure of his business when he is offered a job that simply requires him to drive. Easy enough, but, unbeknownst to Earl, he’s just signed on as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. He does well—so well, in fact, that his cargo increases exponentially, and Earl is assigned a handler. But he isn’t the only one keeping tabs on Earl; the mysterious new drug mule has also hit the radar of hard-charging DEA agent Colin Bates. And even as his money problems become a thing of the past, Earl’s past mistakes start to weigh heavily on him, and it’s uncertain if he’ll have time to right those wrongs before law enforcement, or the cartel’s enforcers, catch up to him.

“The Mule” marks Oscar-winner Eastwood’s first time on both sides of the camera since he starred in 2009’s critically acclaimed “Gran Torino.”

Cooper, who stars as Bates, received his most recent Oscar nominations for his work with Eastwood, acting in and producing “American Sniper.” Oscar nominee Fishburne (“What’s Love Got to Do with It,” TV’s “Black-ish”) plays a DEA special agent in charge; Peña (upcoming “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” Netflix’s “Narcos”) plays a fellow agent; Oscar winner Wiest (“Bullets Over Broadway,” “Hannah and Her Sisters,” TV’s “Life in Pieces”) plays Earl’s ex-wife; Alison Eastwood (“Rails & Ties”) plays Earl’s daughter; Farmiga (upcoming “The Nun”) plays the role of Earl’s granddaughter; and Serricchio (Netflix’s “Lost in Space,” “The Wedding Ringer”) plays Earl’s cartel handler.

Clint Eastwood (“Sully,” “American Sniper”) directs from a screenplay by Nick Schenk (“Gran Torino”). Eastwood also produces the film under his Malpaso banner, along with Tim Moore, Kristina Rivera and Jessica Meier, and Imperative Entertainment’s Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas. The film’s executive producers are Dave Bernad, Ruben Fleischer and Todd Hoffman. Imperative’s Jillian Apfelbaum will co-produce.

The film will be shooting primarily in Georgia and New Mexico. “The Mule” is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in Association with Imperative Entertainment. It will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.