Kate Beckinsale, Dermot Mulroney, Robert Knepper and rapper Sticky Fingaz are currently shooting the action-thriller Drifter, with production underway across Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. The film is directed by Randall Emmett and is filming entirely on location throughout the region, giving the project an authentic Midwestern backdrop.
Alongside its four leads, Drifter also stars Bill Sage, Beau Bommarito, Ema Horvath, Maia Kai and entrepreneur and media personality John Cerasani, rounding out an ensemble that blends established genre veterans with emerging talent.
Set in a quiet Midwestern town, Drifter follows Wendy Ford, an interim police chief determined to prove she is worthy of her late father’s badge. After arresting a mysterious drifter with a hidden past, Wendy finds herself trapped inside her isolated police station when impostors posing as FBI agents, accompanied by a heavily armed mercenary team, launch a deadly assault to free one of her prisoners. Forced into an uneasy alliance with the enigmatic stranger, Wendy must uncover the truth behind the attack before her town—and everyone inside the station—is wiped out.
The film’s siege-style premise, centered on a small police station under attack by a coordinated outside force, has drawn comparisons to John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13. Widely regarded as one of the defining action thrillers of its era, Carpenter’s 1976 classic influenced numerous films that followed, including Die Hard, its own 2005 remake and many lower-budget successors.
Drifter is produced and fully financed by Convergence Entertainment, the independent production and finance company founded by Randall Emmett and Joel Cohen. Both Emmett and Cohen also serve as producers on the film in association with Dream Team Films.
Speaking about the production, Emmett said, “We’re thrilled to begin production on Drifter and to be filming in Cleveland. Working with Kate Beckinsale has been everything we hoped it would be. We’ve wanted to collaborate for a long time, and she has exceeded every expectation. Alongside Dermot, Robert and the rest of this incredible cast, we’re creating something we’re truly proud of, and we can’t wait to share it with audiences.”
Beckinsale is best known for portraying Selene throughout the Underworld franchise and has remained a prominent presence in the action genre with films including Canary Black, Whiteout, Contraband and Van Helsing. While many of those roles placed her in larger-than-life action scenarios, Drifter offers a more grounded character in Wendy Ford, a police chief determined to prove she has earned her position rather than someone who begins the story as an already unstoppable hero.
Knepper, meanwhile, is widely recognized for portraying memorable antagonists in Prison Break, Heroes and Twin Peaks, bringing his trademark intensity to the ensemble. Dermot Mulroney, whose career has spanned drama, thriller and action films for decades, adds further experience to a cast built around seasoned performers.
Emmett’s most recent directorial effort, The Gentleman Thief, starring John Travolta, was released through Vertical on July 28, 2026. A longtime Hollywood producer, Emmett’s credits include Oscar nominee The Irishman, Martin Scorsese’s Silence and Lone Survivor. In recent years, he has also directed Alarum, starring Sylvester Stallone and Scott Eastwood, and High Rollers with John Travolta.
With filming currently underway in Ohio and a release date yet to be announced, Drifter is shaping up to be a tense, contained action thriller built around a high-concept siege narrative. Led by an experienced cast and anchored by Beckinsale in a grounded action role, the film adds another genre project to Emmett’s growing directing slate while bringing a classic police-station-under-siege premise to a new generation of audiences.
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