Barkhad Abdi of “Captain Phillips” fame, who received an Academy Award nomination for his role as pirate leader Abduwali Muse in the blockbuster hit co-starring Tom Hanks, is defying Hollywood expectations.

The 29-year-old who was in the news earlier for his immigration woes and financial problems has signed on for his third project. The Somali actor will be joining Colin Firth in “Eye in the Sky,” a thriller set in the morally murky world of military drones, reports Indie Wire. Oscar winning South African director Gavin Hood will direct the film.

Colin Firth plays a military intelligence officer charged with remotely commanding a top-secret drone operation to capture a group of terrorists from their safe-house in Nairobi, Kenya.

IndieWire shares the detail of the film below:

A group of leading terror suspects gather in a secluded safe house in Nairobi, Kenya, to plan a suicide bombing mission. Meanwhile, British, Kenyan and American intelligence units, working together, keep the terrorists under real-time surveillance using cameras mounted on a remotely piloted, heavily armed MQ-9 Reaper Drone: an "Eye in the Sky." But as the British & Americans prepare to assassinate the terror suspects using a Hellfire missile, launched from the unseen drone flying at 20,000 feet, a little Kenyan girl walks into the kill zone, selling bread.

The dilemma and controversy with military drones will probably be addressed in the film

Firth’s own production company, Raindog Films, will be co-producing the movie. Guy Hibbert of Channel 4 in the U.K. will be penning the screenplay.

"The use of unmanned aircraft in modern warfare and in the so-called 'war on terror' poses critical questions for us all," said Firth, as reported by IndieWire.

"Raindog was launched with the hope of making challenging, thoughtful films, and I'm pleased to be a part of an exploration into such a crucial issue."

No final details have been made available on what Abdi’s role will be in the film. The project is now being shopped at the Cannes Film Market and an August production date is targeted, with the location in South Africa.