America's Jessica Chastain, Kenya and Mexico's Lupita Nyong’o, France's Marion Cotillard, Spain's Penelope Cruz and China's Fan Bingbing are coming together from all corners of the world to save it. That's the premise of their planned film 355, which sounds like the spy thriller dreams are made of as well as a suitable compliment to the upcoming Ocean's 8.
According to Variety the film would see the fivesome "stop a global organization from acquiring a weapon that could thrust the teetering world into total chaos." The trades adds, "Along the way, these strangers and enemies become comrades and friends, and a new faction is formed – code-named “355” (a name they adopt from the first female spy in the American Revolution)."
The kernel of the film's plot was dreamt up by Chastain herself, and her Freckle Films will produce the project. Simon Kinberg will direct the film. He'll make his directorial debut with the upcoming X-Men film Dark Phoenix, but you may already know his work as the writer behind Mr. & Mrs. Smith and X-Men: Apocalypse. Though, screenwriting duties will be handled by playwright Theresa Rebeck.
The world clearly could use more films featuring female leads and people of color, as a recent study on diversity in Hollywood from UCLA concluded. According to it, women only make up 31.2 percent of film leads. Obviously, there's no shortage of love for female heroes, as the box office-crushing success of Wonder Woman showed. There's also hope that this project could lead to a full-on franchise. They've got most of the world covered in this one, but perhaps there's room for Australia and South America in the sequel. Are Margot Robbie and Daniela Vega busy?
Chastain, whose Freckle Films venture is committed to bringing more diversity to the silver screen, said as much in her statement to Variety. “Some of my greatest experiences are being part of an ensemble, both on stage as well as in films,” she said . “I see creating something like ‘355’ as an opportunity and privilege to assemble a diverse group of women, all of whom have greatly influenced the film industry through their work, to join together equally and explore the badass world of international espionage and thrillers. I have always loved films in this genre: ‘Three Days of the Condor,’ the Jason Bourne franchise to the Bond films, and having the opportunity to create this world with these stellar actresses and Simon Kinberg is truly a dream.” Her dream and ours.
Related: All The Female Spy, Assassin, and Super Thief Movies in Development
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