EXCLUSIVE: Laura Linney is set to star alongside Michael Keaton and Morgan Freeman in Rode to Ruin, the Western thriller that Keaton will direct.

Linney will portray Hedda Tessman, joining Keaton as retired Marshal Henry Tillman and Freeman as wanted outlaw Joseph Mulberry. Set in the Old West, the thriller follows a retired U.S. Marshal whose 40-year search for his wife’s killer leads him to an aging outlaw losing his memory, and to a buried truth neither man may survive.

Linney’s character is a frontier trader who works the territory alone, all grit and composure, and the one person the aging outlaw has allowed close in years. When violence rides in on both men, she proves to be the reckoning neither of them saw coming.

The project just saw worldwide rights acquired by Angel, which will release the film domestically and whose newly launched international sales arm is preselling in the TIFF market just getting underway.

Although indelible for her work in Ozark and currently in the DC series Lanterns and for movie work like Love Actually, Linney will also have a profile at the Toronto Film Festival. Friday will see the premiere of Onwards and Sideways, in which Linney stars alongside Rhys Ifans. She also stars opposite Colin Firth, Vicky Krieps and Julianne Moore in The Joy of Sex, and stars in Hello Darkness.

Rode to Ruin was written by R. Dean McCreary, and is produced by Lori McCreary, Keaton, Kelly Mendelsohn, Gary Lucchesi and Richard Gray in a co-production between Revelations Entertainment and George & Leona Productions. The filmmakers feel Linney is a perfect complement to the two other leads.

“Laura has an extraordinary ability to communicate strength, intelligence and vulnerability without ever forcing a moment,” said Lori McCreary. “Hedda is essential to the emotional life of the film, and Laura brings a depth and humanity to the role that will make the entire story richer. Bringing Michael, Morgan and Laura together gives us three remarkable actors who understand character, restraint and the power of what remains unspoken.”

Linney sparked to the opportunity to play a strong female protagonist in a Western setting.

“The script has the scope and texture of a Western, but its real power comes from the people at its center,” said Linney. “I’m very pleased to be joining Michael, Morgan and this wonderful group of filmmakers.”

Executive producers on the film include Steve Sarowitz, Carter Boehm, Skip Herman, Blake Johnson, Randall Emmett, John Bommarito, Tyler Zacharia and David L. Hunt. Plan is for Angel to release the film wide sometime next year.

Linney is repped by CAA, Lighthouse Management + Media and Kevin Yorn; Keaton is repped by CAA and JSSK. Freeman is with CAA and Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern.