Malin Akerman Riding Shotgun With Nicolas Cage in 'Medallions' (Exclusive)

Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for Pantages Theatre

Malin Akerman is in negotiations to play the female lead opposite Nicolas Cage in Medallion, a  Nu Image/Millennium Films action thriller directed by Simon West.

The story, with shades of Taken, follows a father -- a former master thief -- who has only a few hours to find his daughter when she is kidnapped and locked in the trunk of a New York medallion taxi cab.

Akerman will play Cage’s former girlfriend and former bank robber who agrees to help him save his daughter.

David Guggenheim wrote the script. Matthew Joynes and Jesse Kennedy of Aurelius are producing as is McG via Wonderland Sound and Vision. James Holt (Men Who Stare at Goats) is also producing.

Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short and Cassian Elwes are exec producing. Wonderland's Mary Viola is also exec producing.

The movie will shoot in New Orleans starting in mid-March.

Akerman’s recent credits include Watchmen and Couples Retreat, and she is one of the stars of Josh Radnor’s feature directorial debut, HappyThankYouMorePlease, which opens in March. She is repped by WME and Sanders Armstrong Caserta Management.