Frank Grillo To Star In Action Movie ‘MR-9’, Filming To Begin Imminently In U.S. & Bangladesh

EXCLUSIVE: Captain America, The Purge and Copshop star Frank Grillo is set to star in action movie MR-9, which is shooting imminently in the U.S. and Bangladesh.

Writer-director Asif Akbar’s spy action-thriller is based on the popular Masud Rana novels written by late novelist Qazi Anwar Hussain. Plot details are being kept under wraps but we understand Grillo will play the nemesis of secret agent Rana — code name MR-9 — of the Bangladesh Counter Intelligence Agency.

The film is adapted from the original first novel Masud Rana: Dhonghsho Pahar (Demolition Hill). Hussain published 550 novels published in the series, which is influenced by the James Bond franchise.

Bangladeshi production company Jaaz Multimedia, LA-based Al Bravo Films and MR-9 Films have joined forces to get the film into production. Producers are Al Bravo, Hemdee Kiwanuka, Colin Bates, Akbar, Philip Tan and Abdul Aziz with executive producers Niko Foster, Peter Nguyen and Phillip B. Goldfine.

The screenplay for the film has been adapted by Akbar, Aziz and Nazim Ud Daula from the first novel Masud Rana: Dhonghsho Pahar, originally published in 1966.

Grillo is starring in upcoming Lionsgate film Paradise Highway alongside Morgan Freeman and Ambi Pictures biopic Lamborghini, playing founder Ferruccio Lamborghini.

Grillo is represented by CAA, Entertainment 360 and Paul Hastings.