'Ambulance', The Latest From Michael Bay, Adds Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Alongside Jake Gyllenhaal

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is catching a ride on Michael Bay's Ambulance. The actor, who recently appeared in The Trial of the Chicago 7 and will next be seen in Candyman, is joining Jake Gyllenhaal in the action-thriller about thieves who steal an ambulance as their getaway vehicle, only to then realize there's a sick patient still in the back.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has quickly risen to be one of those must-watch actors. He stole the show in Aquaman, had a brief-but-memorable turn in Us, was great on Watchmen, and he delivers arguably the best performance in The Trial of the Chicago 7, a film loaded with wall-to-wall great actors. And now he wants in on some Bayhem. THR is reporting that Abdul-Mateen is joining Jake Gyllenhaal in Michael Bay's Ambulance.

The movie is a remake of the 2005 Danish film Ambulancen, in which two brothers commit a robbery to pay for an operation for their dying mother. They end up hijacking an ambulance, only to then realize that a dying heart transplant patient and a hospital intern are both in the back of the vehicle. The script for the remake, penned by Chris Fedak, has been floating around for a while, with this synopsis:

A vet just back from Afghanistan is drawn by his brother into a bank robbery in downtown Los Angeles. When the robbery goes horribly wrong, the brothers take hostages and hijack an ambulance. As the situation escalates, old wounds reopen in the relationship between the brothers as they fight to survive what seems like an impossible situation.

Now, according to THR, the script has undergone a rewrite so that the lead characters are no longer brothers, opening the door for Abdul-Mateen to play Gyllenhaal's partner in crime. The plot remains mostly the same, and in addition to the sick patient in the back, there's also a paramedic. The paramedic part will be played by Eiza González (Baby Driver).

As previously reported, the film is said to have the potential to recall "great action thrillers of the '90s like Speed and Bay's Bad Boys," so it makes sense that Bay is drawn to this. I think Bay can turn in a good film now and then – I'll admit it, I love The Rock – but he also delivers plenty of junk. I couldn't even make it through 6 Underground. Hopefully, Ambulance turns out to be one of his better offerings. Throwing Gyllenhaal and Abdul-Mateen into the mix certainly doesn't hurt.