Aaron Eckhart is to star in 'Thieves Highway'.

The 56-year-old actor has signed up to appear alongside Devon Sawa in the crime thriller from filmmaker Jesse V. Johnson.

Aaron will play an Oklahoma Stock Detective who is in over his head in the world of modern cattle rustling.

Travis Mills has written the film's script and it is being produced by Corey Large for his 308 Enterprises banner.

Kirk Shaw and Jon Keeyes are executive producing the feature and Red Sea Media is responsible for foreign sales at Cannes.

Former stuntman Johnson said in a statement: "'Thieves Highway' is a passion project, for Aaron and me. We spent a lot of time developing Travis Mills' script, embracing factual anecdotes and actual characters to flesh out a vibrant and action-packed modern crime story."

Large added: "Aaron is creating a unique brand of starring in high-quality genre pictures, joining the likes of Liam Neeson and Mel Gibson, and we are excited to be part of enhancing that profile with 'Thieves Highway'.

"Jesse's background in stunts ensures that audiences will experience the story as though they are in the middle of the action."

Meanwhile, Aaron previously revealed that he loves working on independent films as the cast and crew are always "on the edge".

He told The Hollywood Reporter: "Independent movie-making is certainly more like the Wild, Wild West. You're on the edge all the time. You don't know if you're going to make your days. You don't know if you're going to have enough money for the next day. There's also a lot of freedom in that.

"It's exciting to me because I can change the words if I want. I can improvise. I can make stuff up. When I'm on a big-budget movie, I'm not doing that. It's more corporate."