Imagine you're trapped in an elevator with Charlie Sheen and Whoopi Goldberg — and you're in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. That's the setup of a headline-making new indie drama, Nine Eleven, Variety reports.
The Martin Guigui–directed film will center on five individuals who get trapped in a World Trade Center elevator on September 11, 2001. The cast also includes Luis Guzman, Wood Harris and Olga Fonda.
"I feel deeply connected to the material and I’m so excited to be working with my dear friend Whoopi Goldberg," Sheen, 50, said in a statement, via Variety.
Guigui also released a statement following the news. "We are immensely grateful to bring this inspirational story to life. Nine Eleven is a highly emotional journey and it took a dynamic bunch to collectively come together to make this unique film happen," he said. "We are fortunate to have such a gifted cast on board. Both Charlie and Whoopi are native New Yorkers who strongly identify with this story."
This will be Sheen's first role since he revealed last November that he's HIV-positive. He appeared in a few episodes of #Cybriety in 2015, and his last movie was 2013's Machete Kills. Goldberg last voiced a character in 2015's A Warrior's Tale. She has several more movies lined up for 2016.
Nine Eleven will begin filming at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, Calif., on Monday, March 7. Sheen's manager Mark Burg will serve as executive producer alongside producers Martin Sprock, Dahlia Waingort and Warren Ostergard.
Previous movies based on the 9/11 tragedy include 2006's United 93 and World Trade Center.