Oscar winner Morgan Freeman is in negotiations to join Scarlett Johansson in Luc Besson's next action-thriller "Lucy," TheWrap has learned.
Johansson stars as the title character, who is forced to become a drug mule and is subsequently transformed into an ass-kicking machine when a highly-specialized drug enters her system. As Lucy races against the clock to survive, her new abilities allow her to see into the future, move objects with her mind and disregard pain and other emotions.
Freeman is making a deal to play a professor well-versed in evolution and the capabilities of the human brain who Lucy is on a mission to find before she dies.
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Besson wrote the script and will produce with his EuropaCorp CEO Christophe Lambert. "Lucy" is the latest Besson movie to feature a strong female protagonist, following "La Femme Nikita," "Joan of Arc," "The Professional" and "The Fifth Element."
Universal is handling worldwide distribution with the exception of several territories including France and China. Production will begin after Johansson wraps "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."
Freeman, who recently starred in Universal's "Oblivion," Summit's "Now You See Me" and Antoine Fuqua's "Olympus Has Fallen," will next be seen in CBS Films' comedy "Last Vegas," which hits theaters Nov. 1. He's currently filming Wally Pfister's directorial debut "Transcendence" and is also voicing a role in "The Lego Movie." The Oscar-winning star of "Million Dollar Baby" is repped by CAA.