Blake Lively to play an assassin in spy thriller The Rhythm Section

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Once we see Charlize Theron kick some ass in the upcoming ATOMIC BLONDE, we may find ourselves hungry for more female-driven spy adventures, and Blake Lively taking on the role of Stephanie Patrick for THE RHYTHM SECTION could very well fit the bill. Variety reports that THE SHALLOWS actress is attached to star in the spy thriller which is based upon the novels by Mark Burnell and will serve as the feature directorial debut of Reed Morano (The Handmaid's Tale).

After her world was destroyed by the deaths of her family in an airplane crash, a flight she was meant to be on, Stephanie Patrick falls into a downward spiral of prostitution, drugs, and alcohol, but when she discovers that the crash wasn't an accident, she gains a new sense of purpose and becomes an assassin in order to track down those responsible. James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who will be producing the film through their Eon Productions banner, said that they are "thrilled to be bringing Mark Burnell’s ‘The Rhythm Section’ to the big screen with our partners at IM Global. It is exciting for us to be working with the immensely talented team of director Reed Morano and actress who have a strong vision for this very compelling story driven by a female protagonist." Production on THE RHYTHM SECTION is expected to begin this fall with a shoot which will visit the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Spain, and Switzerland.

A synopsis of "The Rhythm Section" via Amazon:

The Rhythm Section is not a thriller about the hunt for a terrorist, although that is the path Stephanie takes, and it’s not a story about revenge, although justice for her family is her initial motivation. Rather, The Rhythm Section is the story of Stephanie’s attempt to reclaim herself. She has to rediscover who she is through a series of roles that she is forced to play; she is never herself. As a prostitute, she is Lisa, the chemical blonde. Later, she is Petra Reuter, German anarchist turned mercenary terrorist. Sometimes, she is Marina Gaudenzi, a Swiss businesswoman, or she’s Susan Branch, an American student, or Elizabeth Shepherd, an English management consultant.

But whoever she is, she’s never herself because her life depends on her being someone else. This is the way she is trained by the intelligence service that recruits her, but it’s also the way she’s taught herself to be; being someone else has always worked for her and so it does now, until she begins to fall in love for the first time with Frank White. This undermines her completely and poses new questions: which of the many people she has become is the one to have fallen in love? Stephanie? Petra? Or one of the others? With whom has Frank fallen in love? Marina? Or the real Stephanie? More than anything, The Rhythm Section is about a catastrophic crisis of identity.

Blake Lively will next be seen in ALL I SEE IS YOU, a psychological thriller which tells the story of a blind woman (Blake Lively) and her husband (Jason Clarke). When her sight unexpectedly returns, she begins to discover the previously unseen and disturbing details about themselves, their marriage and their lives. The Marc Forster flick will hit theaters on August 4, 2017.