Jessica Chastain is fronting an all-female spy thriller, and she has an incredible international cast to back her up.
355, which was originally pitched by the IT: Chapter Two star, will follow a group of international agents and is aimed at challenging a male-dominated genre – in the ilk of the Bourne, Mission: Impossible and James Bond movies.
Chastain is reuniting with her X-Men: Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg on the project alongside writer Theresa Rebeck.
Even more excitingly, she has signed-up Oscar-winners Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz and Lupita Nyong'o, as well as Fan Bingbing, to all star.
"I had so much fun working on The Help that I always wanted to do another female ensemble film," the actress explained to Deadline.
"I love the Bourne movies, the Mission: Impossible films, and wondered why, except for Charlie's Angels, there hadn't been a true female ensemble action-thriller spy film. That got my wheels going, along with the idea of casting actresses from all over the world to truly make it an international project.
"I realised the incredible creative freedom we would have with that. I brought the idea to Simon, told him about the actresses I was thinking of, and he was so sweet. He said, 'I want to do it with you.
"Then I called all the women, told them what I was envisioning and that I wanted it to be a collaborative process, and how we would all create this together."
The star added of pitching the movie at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival: "Every single actress I called said yes, on the phone call. They committed to Cannes and to everything. So far it has been a very wonderfully easy process."
The hope is to turn the movie into a franchise, the plot following a group of international agents who put aside their differences and come together to stop a global organisation from acquiring a weapon that could plunge the world into chaos.
Speaking of broadening the opportunities for women, Chastain added: "It's so exciting to be part of a film that will allow for not just one female action hero but a whole ensemble of very capable, fierce female characters that reject tired stereotypes.
"Characters that liberate from the confines of stereotypical traits. That is something that excited me about this, the opportunity to create different types of female heroes."
Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
