Michelle Yeoh cast in high-octane action movie The Mother

Michelle Yeoh is to star in the action thriller 'The Mother'.

The Oscar-winning actress has been cast in the high-octane movie from director Melanie Laurent.

Michelle will play the role of Ann, an immigrant mother and businesswoman who is looking to make the best of her new life in America for her family.

When her two teenage sons stumble into trouble with a corrupt Boston cop and a crime ring, Ann has no choice but to rekindle her past and will stop at nothing until her kids are safe.

The movie will shoot this summer and has Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee producing for Thunder Road alongside Arthur Sarkissian and John Schramm.

The film will be introduced to buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin this week.

Michelle became the first Asian performer to win the Oscar for Best Actress last year for her role as Evelyn Quan Wang in 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' and expressed hope that her achievement would create a path forward for both herself and others.

The 61-year-old star told Variety: "The most important thing it has done is it has generated such pride with our people.

"The day I won I honestly heard the roar of joy that came from that corner of the world. It's been slowly moving in that way and this has pushed the door open and it's not shutting behind me... When there's so few roles in the past it's so competitive. If you get the job, I don't get the job.

"But now we have to change the mindset. If I'm successful, you can be successful."