EXCLUSIVE: Four-time Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke is set to appear in heist thriller Cut Throat City, joining Terrence Howard, Wesley Snipes, Eiza González, Kat Graham, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Joel David Moore, Isiah Washington, Keean Johnson, Sam Daly, Denzel Whitaker, Rob Morgan, Rich Paul, Demetrius Shipp Jr., and Shameik Moore. The New Orleans-set film is directed by Wu Tang Clan’s RZA and based on a script from P.G. Cuscheri.

Hawke will play Jackson Symms, a highly respected city councilman and retired NOLA deputy chief who has a keen sense of the less fortunate community members who he serves. The 9th Ward is his district.

The pic centers around four boyhood friends return to New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina, they find their home decimated and prospects for work swept away. Turning to a local gangster for employment, the crew is hired to pull off a daring casino heist, right in the heart of the city. But when the heist goes awry, the boys are forced on a dangerous crime spree, fighting for their survival while both hunted by the warlord and two idealistic detectives.

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Jackson is pained by the death, property damage, and family despair Hurricane Katrina caused – specifically it reminds him of the loss of his beloved wife.

Well Go USA nabbed North American rights earlier this year with an aim to release the film in theaters next year. XYZ Films is handling international sales. Producers are Elliott Michael Smith, Sean Lydiard, Michael Mendelsohn, William Clevinger, Kyle Tekiela, and RZA.

Check out the Comic-Con-debuted teaser.

Hawke was recently seen in Netflix’s Juliet, Naked, Blaze, which he co-wrote and directed, and the Paul Schrader-helmed First Reformed, which was among the National Board of Review’s top ten films of 2018. In addition, Hawke’s leading performance has so far earned him a Gotham Award, the New York Film Critics Circle honor, and an Indie Spirit Award nomination.

He’s repped by CAA, MGMT Entertainment, and the Law Offices of George Sheanshang.