Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry is going to the movies.

Perry's been tapped for a role in 'Cottonwood,' an upcoming film based on Stacy Dean Campbell's 2004 book about "two families thrown together by tragedy and the bounds of racial injustice" in West Texas during the summer of 1937. The story centers on Rube Whitlock, the town sheriff and grieving father of a recently deceased girl who hires a local woman to help care for his wife, and then finds himself in the middle of a racial firestorm when her husband's purchase of a new mule ignites tensions in the small town.

Perry, who's set to play a character named Joe Walker, joins a cast that includes Anthony Michael Hall, Louis Gossett, Jr. and Alison Eastwood. In addition to co-starring and serving as co-producer on the film, he's also agreed to contribute music.

"I look forward to Joe’s role in the film, as well as his contribution to the soundtrack," said producer Julie Campbell in a press release. Added Perry, "I found the screenplay to be very compelling and thought it was a wonderful character-driven story. Although dark at times, the surprise ending made the story resonate with the reader, and I feel it will do the same for the moviegoing audience. I look forward to the role of Joe Walker."

For more information about 'Cottonwood,' you can visit the film's official site. The film's producers are currently trying to raise $750,000 in financing via Indiegogo.

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