Oscar winner Russell Crowe (Nuremberg) and Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Heads of State) are set to star in the sci-fi action thriller Bluefly.

Highland Film Group is handling worldwide rights, launching sales at the upcoming TIFF market. Principal photography is set to begin later this year on Australia’s Gold Coast.

The synopsis reads: "Deep in the Congo, U.N. interpreter Myla Reese (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) is pulled into a black-ops mission led by special-ops commander Broyles (Russell Crowe) to recover a downed military aircraft that isn’t supposed to exist. As the Special Operations team pushes upriver through militia-held territory, the mission spirals into a deadly fight for survival - and the closer they get to the aircraft, the clearer it becomes that they were never meant to bring it home."

Directed by Nimród Antal (Predators), the pic is written by David Frigerio (Beast), William Eubank (Underwater) and Carlyle Eubank (Muzzle).

The sci-fi action-thriller is produced by Michael Jefferson for Polite Society, David Frigerio for Broken Open Pictures, Deborah Glover for G2 Dispatch, Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier for Highland Film Group, and Vanessa Yao Guo. Executive producers are Lia Buman, Guy Davies, RuthAnne Frigerio, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Jason Kringstein, Katie Leary, Scott Levenson and James Norbury.

“We have a stellar cast led by Russell Crowe and Priyanka Chopra Jonas who will ignite the screen in this high-stakes, sci-fi thrill ride with layers of depth,” said Highland Film Group CEO Fraser.

Added company COO Perrier: “Bluefly is heart-pounding entertainment with a complex story full of unexpected twists. With Nimród Antal at the helm and our wonderful cast, we cannot wait to introduce this fantastic project to our global buyers.”

Said Antal: “Bluefly is an intense, character-driven thriller wrapped inside a bold science-fiction premise. It’s the kind of film I live to make — grounded, propulsive, and full of dread — and I couldn’t ask for a better cast or team to bring it to the screen.”

Gladiator Oscar winner and L.A. Confidential star Crowe recently starred in Sony Pictures Classics’ Nuremberg and will next be seen in Netflix’s thriller Unabomber, Vertical’s The Weight, Walden Media’s thriller Billion Dollar Spy, and Amazon MGM’s reboot of Highlander.

Chopra Jonas recently led and produced Prime Video’s The Bluff; and Emmy nominee Heads of State, Prime Video’s fourth most-watched film, alongside Idris Elba and John Cena. She will star in S.S. Rajamouli’s upcoming action-adventure epic film Varanasi, set to be released in April 2027, and is due to star opposite Orlando Bloom in the survival thriller Reset.

Crowe is repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Goodman Genow. Chopra Jonas is repped by UTA and A-Series. Antal is repped by Range Media Partners. William Eubank is repped by Anonymous Content and CAA. Carlyle Eubank is repped by Atlas Literary.

By Andreas Wiseman, Deadline