Michael Keaton will play a badass spy trainer in American Assassin

Although Michael Keaton never really left, I'm immensely grateful that the entertainment world is once again giving Keaton roles worthy of his talent. Hot off his turn in the Oscar-winning SPOTLIGHT, Michael Keaton is busy setting up his next project. Deadline reports that Keaton will star in AMERICAN ASSASSIN, an action-thriller based upon the Vince Flynn novel of the same name. "American Assassin" is one of many novels Vince Flynn wrote following the adventures of a young assassin by the name of Mitch Rapp who carries out covert ops for the CIA, so the hope is that AMERICAN ASSASSIN will be the first of a franchise. Of course it is.

As Michael Keaton obviously doesn't fit the bill of a young assassin, his role will be that of Stan Hurley, a "badass Cold War veteran who teaches the young assassin everything he needs to know." Michael Cuesta (KILL THE MESSANGER) will be taking on directing duties and production on AMERICAN ASSASSIN is set to get underway this summer. Michael Cuesta commented on Keaton's casting by saying "Stan Hurley is one of the pillars of the Vince Flynn universe and a favorite character for millions of readers, so casting him was a daunting challenge, to have an actor as intelligent and gifted as Michael Keaton bring this beloved character to life is a thrill for everyone involved in American Assassin and a cause for celebration amongst ‘Hurley’ fans the world over." AMERICAN ASSASSIN will begin as Mitch Rapp, who has yet to have been cast, is devastated by the loss of his fiancee in a terrorist attack. The CIA deputy director then assigns the "shadowy" Stan Hurley to train the "grief-stricken but highly motivated Rapp how to thwart terrorist operations and hunt the perpetrators."

A synopsis of "American Assassin" via Amazon:

Two decades after the Cold War, Islamic terrorism is on the rise, and CIA Operations Director Thomas Stansfield forms a new group of clandestine operatives—men who do not exist—to meet this burgeoning threat abroad before it reaches America’s shores. Stansfield’s protégée, Irene Kennedy, finds the ideal candidate in the wake of the Pan Am Lockerbie terrorist attack. Among the thousands grieving the victims is Mitch Rapp, a gifted college athlete, who wants only one thing: retribution. Six months of intense training prepares him to devastate the enemy with brutal efficiency, leaving a trail of bodies from Istanbul and across Europe, to Beirut. But there, the American assassin will need every ounce of skill and cunning to survive the war-ravaged city and its deadly terrorist factions.

SPOTLIGHT was released on Blu-ray/DVD just last month, and you can order your very own copy right here.