Transformers actor Josh Duhamel is re-teaming with Canadian director Allan Ungar for the new action comedy London Calling, joined in the cast by Game of Thrones star Aidan Gillen, It actor Jeremy Ray Taylor and Rick Hoffman (Showtime’s Billions, USA Network’s Suits).

Duhamel, who starred in Ungar’s 2022 crime thriller Bandit, alongside Elisha Cuthbert and Mel Gibson, will play Tommy Ward, a mediocre hitman who accidentally kills a relative of London’s biggest crime boss (Aidan Gillen), forcing him to go on the run and landing him in L.A., far away from his London-based son. To get back, Tommy makes a deal with his new employer (Rick Hoffman): In exchange for safe passage, he agrees to teach his socially awkward teenage son Julian (Jeremy Ray Taylor) to be a man. But Tommy’s teachable moments include taking Julian to work, including on his latest contract killing of a renowned assassin.

Omer Levin Menekse, who wrote the 2020 Oscar-nominated short Please Hold, co-wrote the script to London Calling, together with Quinn Wolfe. Production is underway in South Africa. Highland Film Group is handling international rights.

“Allan Ungar is the ideal director to bring this action-packed comedy to life – we are delighted to team up with him again after the recent success of Bandit,” says Highland COO Delphine Perrier. “London Calling is loaded with global appeal and we cannot wait to deliver this transatlantic project to our buyers.”

Highland Film Group’s current sales slate also includes Joe Carnahan’s survival thriller Not Without Hope starring Zachary Levi and Josh Duhamel; the Simon West-directed action comedy Old Guy with Christoph Waltz, Lucy Liu and Cooper Hoffman; the sci-fi thriller The Astronaut starring Kate Mara and Laurence Fishburne; and Adam Cooper’s crime thriller Sleeping Dogs with Russell Crowe and Karen Gillan.

Ungar is producing London Calling together with Delon Bakker, Kyle Ambrose, Ryan Winterstern, Nathan Klingher, Mark Fasano, Apur Parikh and Julia Sandberg Hansson. The film is executive produced by Duhamel, Taylor, Ford Corbett, Highland Film Group’s Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier, Henry Winterstern, Josh Harris, Jatin Desai, Greg Friedman, Tracy Taylor and Kelli Kaye.

Duhamel is repped by CAA; Taylor by Paradigm; Gillen by Independent Talent Group, Greene Talent and Coronel Group; Hoffman by Impression Entertainment and A3 Artists Agency; and Ungar by Verve, World Builder, and Marios Rush.