CANNES -- Icon Entertainment, Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey's production and distribution entity, said Saturday that Richard Gere and Liam Neeson are signed to star in David Von Ancken's "Seraphim Falls."

Von Ancken's directorial debut from his own script penned alongside Abbey Everett Jaques, "Seraphim" will be produced by David Flynn and Davey.

The movie will be distributed through Icon Film Distribution in the U.K. and Australia, while the group's sales arm, Icon Entertainment International, is selling worldwide rights.

Billed as a psychological action movie, the film is set just after the end of the American Civil War. Neeson plays an army colonel who vows to kill Gere's character whatever the cost and pursues him across the West.

A spokesman for Icon said discussions for a U.S. deal were ongoing and no budget was revealed.

Von Ancken's directorial credits include television shows "The Shield," "CSI: New York" and "Without a Trace."

Icon Entertainment International's current slate includes "It's a Boy Girl Thing," "Darwin Awards" and "On a Clear Day."