Frank Grillo has attached to star in Show of Hands, a political kidnapping comedy written and to be directed by P.J. Pesce, according to Deadline.

The indie film is set during the week leading up to the 2024 US presidential election. Grillo plays Barlow Galligan, a Cadillac dealership owner, conservative small-town mayor, and congressional candidate. The protagonist is Jimmi Galligan, Barlow's son — a broke and ambitious film student convinced his father is sitting on the money he needs to make his first feature. Jimmi's solution: recruit activists to kidnap Barlow and extort the budget out of him. The ransom demand spirals from $25,000 to $1 million.

Pesce, who has directed nearly 100 hours of television across drama, action, and genre programming — with credits including Supernatural, The 100, and Quantico — also has the features The Desperate Trail and Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball on his directing résumé. Of Grillo, Pesce said the actor brings "force, comic timing and emotional complexity" to the role of Barlow Galligan.

Grillo's recent credits span the franchise and streaming landscape: James Gunn's Superman, Peacemaker, Tulsa King, Boss Level, Kingdom, and The Purge franchise. He is represented by CAA, Entertainment 360, and Paul Hastings. Pesce is repped by CAA and Rain Management.

Rob Weiss, Noam Dromi, and Grillo himself produce. The film will shoot in California, backed by a state tax credit — an incentive programme that rebates a portion of qualified production spending to projects filming in the state. Producer Noam Dromi called the credit "an important step toward moving the film into production."

No release date or start of production has been announced.