Gary Oldman is set to star in opioid crisis thriller 'Dreamland'.

Gary Oldman

Gary Oldman

The 60-year-old actor will reportedly star alongside Armie Hammer, Evangeline Lilly and Veronica Ferres in the upcoming film, billed as the first theatrical film to tackle the international opioid crisis, and directed by Nicholas Jarecki from his original script.

The drama will follow the story of a university professor as he makes a disturbing discovery about his employer, a pharmaceutical company with profound government influence bringing a new "non-addictive" painkiller to market.

A drug trafficker who organises a multi-cartel operation moving Fentanyl between the US and Canada and an architect who is recovering from an OxyContin addiction who discovers the truth behind her son who is also involved with drugs.

Jarecki hopes the forthcoming film will give the devastating opioid crisis a "human face" and impact audiences everywhere.

In a statement, he said: "The devastating impact of the opioid crisis reaches all corners of society, Gary, Armie, and Evangeline are the perfect performers to bring the human face of this epidemic to audiences everywhere."

Jarecki and Cassian Elwes financed the project together through Jarecki's Green Room Films and its continuing relationship with MUFG Union Bank and will also produce the film while Michael Suppes, Douglas Urbanski and Tony Hsieh will executive produce.

Mohammed Al Turki, Lisa Wilson, William Rosenfeld, Sam Slater, and David Bernon also executive produce. Co-executive producers are Kean Cronin, Robert Kapp, and Samuel Reich.

Shooting is already is underway with Montreal and Detroit being used as the shooting locations.