'The Walking Dead' cast news: Lauren Cohan joins Mark Wahlberg in 'Mile 22'

AMC
Lauren Cohan as Maggie

STXFilms has announced that "The Walking Dead" star Lauren Cohan is joining Mark Wahlberg in the action film "Mile 22."

The Hollywood Reporter first revealed the news, which Cohan happily confirmed via Twitter.

Cohan is best known for her role as Maggie Greene in the zombie thriller "The Walking Dead." She is the latest actress to join the upcoming movie, which will also star John Malkovich ("Red"), mixed martial arts fighter Ronda Rousey ("Furious 7") and Indonesian actor Iko Uwais ("The Raid"). The film will be directed by Peter Berg, who also helmed "Lone Survivor," "Battleship," and "Hancock," among others.

STXFilms is reportedly hoping to make a franchise out of "Mile 22" and planning to launch a television series and virtual reality project around it, following the lukewarm reception for its most recent film "Bad Moms Christmas."

"Mile 22" follows the story of an elite officer from the Central Intelligence Agency stationed in Indonesia. He will be tasked to smuggle a police officer from the city center to the airport, which is 22 miles away. Blocking them from their getaway plane is a hoard of cops, crime lords, and even locals who do not want them to get out of the country. The police officer is believed to have obtained sensitive information, that may expose extreme corruption.

Berg earlier announced that they want to make a trilogy out of this first installment. "It's a piece of fiction we're very excited about. We're coming at you with a big action movie," he said in Cinemacon 2017.

Wahlberg then added that he has yet to make a movie that would really define him, like Jason Bourne for Matt Damon's "Bourne Legacy" and John McClane for Bruce Willis' "Die Hard." Wahlberg hopes this film would be his legacy.

Berg, Wahlberg, and Stephen Levinson ("Patriots Day") will co-produce the film, which will be written by Graham Roland and Lea Carpenter.