Vanessa Hudgens, Brendan Fraser to Star in Indie Drama 'Gimme Shelter' (Exclusive)

Vanessa Hudgens is in final negotiations to star in Gimme Shelter, an indie drama that will also star Brendan Fraser. Ron Krauss is writing and directing the pic, which is eyeing an end of May start in Connecticut.

The script centers on a pregnant, homeless teen, to be played by Hudgens, who flees her abusive mother and seeks out her biological father. He first takes her in but then throws her out when she refuses to abort her child. Fraser is the girl’s dad, who fathered her as a result of a youthful fling.

Producing are Kraus, Jeff Rice and Dama Claire.

Shelter continues Hudgens’ efforts to move beyond her past teen-queen image. She came into the public’s eye with Disney’s High School Musical movies before moving to Zack Snyder’s ensemble fantasy Sucker Punch, and she has New Line’s family adventure movie Journey 2: The Mysterious Island opening in September. Shelter will be her first purely dramatic feature role.

Fraser, who coincidentally starred in the first Journey to the Center of the Earth film, was last seen in Furry Vengeance.

Hudgens is repped by CAA and Untitled. Fraser is repped by CAA and Brillstein.