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Watchmen star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has landed a new role in the upcoming Michael Bay film Ambulance.
The actor, who has recently appeared in The Trial Of The Chicago 7 and will be seen next year in The Matrix 4, is set to star in the Bay thriller alongside Jake Gyllenhaal.
While plot details are scarce, Ambulance is based off a 2005 film about two brothers who run from the police, and steal an ambulance without knowing it contains a female paramedic and a patient in a critical condition.
Eiza González has signed up for the role of the paramedic, Variety reports, while Chris Fedak is writing the script.
Abdul-Mateen II, who is also set to lead the upcoming Jordan Peele-produced Candyman remake, revealed earlier this year that he was asked to change his name when he began his career in Hollywood.
“My name is not the name you’d pick out of a hat – Yahya Abdul-Mateen the second is no John Wayne, it’s not traditionally the guy at the top of the billing,” he explained. “And that’s why it’s so inspiring to people.
“I get messages all the time saying, ‘Thank you brother for representing for us Muslims. I was thinking about changing my name, but now that I see you, I’ll never change it.’
“For a lot of aspiring actors and artists around the world, America is the destination, the comparison,” Abdul-Mateen II added.
“So to have my name at the top of the billing on my own for Candyman, right up there on Aquaman, and next to Keanu Reeves in a big production like The Matrix is huge. To be validated, to hold my own, and to go on talk shows where they say my entire name, that’s inspiring.”
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