For the director, see Morgan J. Freeman

Freeman went on to star in Deep Impact (1998), a science-fiction disaster film in which he played President Tim Beck.[70] The story depicts humanity’s attempt to destroy a 7-mile (11 km) wide comet set to collide with Earth and cause a mass extinction. The film was a box-office hit, despite competition from Armageddon, another summer blockbuster of the year.[71] Continuing with the disaster genre, he then starred opposite Christian Slater in 1998’s Hard Rain, centering on a heist and man-made treachery amidst a natural disaster in a small Indiana town. The film was unpopular with critics; Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times called the characters “one-dimensional” and the film “routine”.[72] Freeman returned to the screen in 2000 with the lead role of Charlie in the comedy Nurse Betty, featuring Renée Zellweger, Chris Rock, and Greg Kinnear. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to mainly positive reviews; the critic from Variety magazine thought Freeman and Rock had “wonderful chemistry”.[73] Next, he appeared in Under Suspicion (2000), a thriller remake of the 1981 French film Garde à vue. The film had been “carting round” for twelve years before Freeman was able to produce it under Revelations Entertainment.[74] He co-starred with Gene Hackman; “Working with Gene was wonderful. I didn’t find it too hard working with an icon I so respected”, Freeman said.[74] Upon release, Under Suspicion was met with lukewarm reception;[75] CNN’s Paul Tatara praised the actors but thought the film was “too tawdry to be completely entertaining, and too static to generate much excitement”.[76]