Winston Duke Set to Lead Forthcoming Action Thriller Heroine (Updated)

Black Panther breakout Winston Duke, who made his feature debut in the record-breaking film, has landed his next leading role. Duke is set to star in the forthcoming Paramount Players action-thriller Heroine, per THR.

Heroine follows a young mother on the run who moves to a new city in search of a clean start, only to realize that a mysterious and enigmatic new neighbor may in fact be a profoundly dangerous criminal. Duke will play her neighbor, a dark and seemingly tragic figure at the start who turns out to be much, much more than we expect.

Dan Casey, who recently penned the sci-fi film Kin, is set to write and direct the forthcoming film, with Ace Entertainment’s Matt Kaplan producing.

Duke had a few small credits in shows like Person of Interest and Modern Family before he was cast in Black Panther as rival tribe leader M’Baku, which shot him to breakout fame. Soon after, he was cast in Jordan Peele’s forthcoming Us, the filmmaker’s follow-up to Get Out, in which Duke is set to appear alongside his Black Panther co-star Lupita Nyong’o, in addition to Elizabeth Moss and Tim Heidecker. And while details are still vague on Duke’s Us role, based on the synopsis, it appears that he’ll be paired with Nyong’o as one of the film’s two central couples, one black and one white.

While Duke plays the neighbor of the titular heroine, based on the lead billing, it appears that he’ll be playing quite a major part in the film. We don’t know yet who Duke will be starring opposite in Heroine, but it’s safe to say that he’s come a long way in a very short time.

Shooting is currently set to begin on Heroine in spring.

(Update, Oct. 2: This post has been amended to include the film’s correct logline.)