Lionsgate and CBS Films has debuted the first trailer and poster for the long-awaited adaptationAmerican Assassin, based on authorVince Flynn’s iconic novel series following the character Mitch Rapp, played byDylan O’Brien. With 15 novels and counting in this series, CBS Films could very well have a franchise on their hands, ifAmerican Assassinbecomes a big hit at the box office. But as of now, no sequel plans have been confirmed. This footage gives us some early insight into Mitch Rapp’s past, teasing the path that lead him to the CIA.
American Assassinfollows the rise of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien) a CIA black ops recruit under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). The pair is then enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on both military and civilian targets. Together the three discover a pattern in the violence leading them to a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent (Shiva Negar) to stop a mysterious operative (Taylor Kitsch) intent on starting a World War in the Middle East.
This adaptation was in development for several years, withEdward Zwickattached to direct in June 2011, while writing the script with his longtime writing partnerMarshall Herskowitz, who he collaborated with onThe Last Samurai,Jack Reacher: Never Go BackandLove and Other Drugs. The filmmaker reportedly parted ways to directThe Great Wall, which he also has a story credit on withMarshall Herskowitz, although he didn’t end up directing that film either.Jeffrey Nachmanoffthen came aboard to replace him at the helm, but he didn’t stick around for too long either as the project slowly started to slip into development hell.
ThorstarChris Hemsworthreportedly turning down a $10 million offer to play Mitch Rapp back in 2012, withBruce Willisalso circling the Stan Hurley role around that time as well. Eventually, the project got back on the right track, with directorMichael Cuesta(Kill the Messenger) coming aboard to direct from a script byStephen Schiff(Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps),Michael Finch(Hitman: Agent 47) and the writing team ofEdward Zwick&Marshall Herskovitz(The Last Samural).American Assassinis the 11th of the 13 Mitch Rapp novelsVince Flynnwrote, but it’s the first story in the franchise timeline, showcasing a young Mitch Rapp for the first time.Vince Flynnpassed away in 2013 after a three-year battle with prostate cancer, withKyle Millstaking over writing the Mitch Rapp novels.
CBS Filmshas set a September 15 release date forAmerican Assassin, which puts it up against Open Road Films’All I See Is Youand Sony’sThe Soultrean. It will also come between a pair of highly-anticipated projects, New Line’sITremake on Septmeber 8 and Warner Bros.Ninjagoon September 22. Take a look at the first trailer and poster for the upcoming adaptationAmerican Assassin.
