From Zero Dark Thirty and The Martian to Interstellar and Molly's Game, Jessica Chastain has left her mark on Hollywood through a variety of movies over the last decade, and her profile is only going to increase. Next February the actress will antagonize Professor Xavier's team of mutant superheroes in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and today brings word that she's joining 355, a large-scale spy film that will see her teaming up with some other popular actresses.
Having just worked with Jessica Chastain on X-Men: Dark Phoenix, director Simon Kinberg has brought Chastain aboard for 355, and the main cast will also include Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong'o and Fan Bingbing. The women will play a team of top international agents from around the world who must set aside their political and social differences and join forces to stop a sinister global organization from obtaining a weapon that could plunge the world into chaos. 355 is described as a "grounded, edgy action thriller" that's aiming to put a female stamp on what's been a primarily male-dominated genre. Theresa Rebeck wrote the script, and the goal is for 355, which Kinberg says is tonally similar to the Bourne movies, to launch a franchise.
While Jessica Chastain is just one of the actresses who will headline 355, she's actually the one who was the driving force with making this movie happen, as she pitched the idea to Simon Kinberg and the other actresses, and slowly but surely, the ball got rolling. Having worked with a female-led ensemble in The Help and dipped her toes into espionage storytelling with Zero Dark Thirty, Chastain was interested in merging those two things together, and 355 is the result. With a cast like that, it's hard to imagine a studio not quickly snatching the movie up. As for what to expect from 355, Kinberg says that the actress will share equal screen time, and then revealed the following to Deadline:
It won't be as hyperbolic as some franchises, and unlike the other films that revolve around one main character, the goal here is the true ensemble, all these characters who have their own distinct traits, histories --- fully formed and complex characters with equal weight in the film. That's unique, as is having all female spies. We are digging into the reality of spy craft today. There are all kinds of things that seem out of a James Bond or even a sci-fi movie, but the technology is so advanced that it's real. Having someone who knows that reality informing the script has been really helpful.
All of Jessica Chastain's 355 co-stars have some blockbuster experience under their belt, with Marion Cotillard appearing in both The Dark Knight Rises, Penelope Cruz appearing in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Lupita Nyong'o appearing in Black Panther and Fan Bingbing appearing in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Seeing the five women kicking ass together on the big screen will ideally result in a highly entertaining action movie.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates about 355 as they come in, but in the meantime, if you're interested in learning what's hitting the silver screen later this year, take a look at our 2018 release schedule so you can plan your trips to the theater accordingly.
