Morgan Freeman, who plays Lucius Fox in the current box-office hit “The Dark Knight”, crashed on a rural road in Mississippi late on Sunday.

He was hospitalized on Monday with a broken arm and other injuries, at the Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center in Memphis.

Donna Lee, the veteran actor's sister-in-law and publicist said he would undergo surgery later Monday or on Tuesday, but was in good spirits. "He says he'll be OK and is looking forward to a full recovery," Lee said.

Oscar-winning “Million Dollar Baby” actor Morgan Freeman was supposed to start filming a new movie in a few weeks. That will have to be postponed because doctors say he's looking at a three to four month recovery period.

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Ben Williams said the accident happened at about 11:30 pm and it was possible that Freeman had fallen asleep at the wheel.

"The vehicle went off the edge of the road and flipped several times," Williams told the AP. He said no other car was involved in the accident, and authorities had ruled out alcohol or drugs as factors in the wreck and no citation was issued.

Rescue workers removed Freeman from the wreck using the jaws of life but the actor was lucid as he was tended to beside the ambulance, said Clay McFerrin, editor of The Charleston Sun-Sentinel newspaper, who arrived on the scene shortly after the crash.

The 71-year-old actor was driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima that belonged to Demaris Meyer of Memphis, who was in the car when the accident happened. They were both wearing seat belts, but air bags did not deploy, Sgt. Ben Williams said.

Freeman’s publicist says Meyer is a friend of the actor’s. She also says Freeman and his wife, Myrna, have been separated for some time and are in the process of getting divorced.

Morgan Freeman was born in Memphis but spent much of his childhood in Mississippi.

In addition to his Oscar won in 2005 for his supporting role in Clint Eastwood's boxing drama "Million Dollar Baby", Freeman has starred in nearly 100 feature films and television programs, including "The Shawshank Redemption," "The Bucket List," "Driving Miss Daisy" and "Seven." As a producer or executive producer, he has made "10 Items or Less" and "Levity," among other movies.

Upcoming projects include the crime drama "The Code" and the comedy "The Lonely Maiden."