Michael Keaton is to star in and direct 'Knox Goes Away'.

The 70-year-old actor will feature both in front of and behind the camera in the noir thriller, which has been written by Gregory Poirier.

The movie centres on a contract killer who, after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of dementia, is presented with the chance to redeem himself by saving the life of his estranged adult son.

But he must race against the police closing in on him as well as the clock ticking on his rapidly declining mind.

The film is being produced by Brookstreet's Trevor Matthew and Nick Gordon as well as Sugar23's Michael Sugar and Ashley Zalta. Filming will begin in Los Angeles at the end of August.

Michael is set to reprise the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in the upcoming movies 'The Flash' and 'Batgirl' and says his priority was to make a good film as he returned to the role.

He said: "It has to be good. There's no reason to do it if it's not good. I'm not gonna really change anything."

Keaton explained that he had been tempted to return as Batman even before Warner Bros. approached him to feature in 'The Flash'.

He recalled: "I thought, 'Boy, what would that be like?' And then, coincidentally, there were murmurs, and I got a call from Warner Bros. They wanted to talk to me about something and there were hints of Batman."

The 'Beetlejuice' star revealed that he had "fun" on the blockbuster and praised the work of director Andy Muschietti.

Michael said: "I just jumped in and had fun. And why would you not? You know, I mean, director Andy Muschietti is fantastic, and it's really creative. I don't know. It's fun."