After narrowly missing out on a part in X-Men spinoff Gambit, Deadline has learned that Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation star Rebecca Ferguson has signed on to star opposite Emily Blunt in The Girl on the Train.
Based on Paula Hawkins’ novel of the same name, Ferguson is on board to play Anna, one of the three nominal female roles in the thriller. Set to be directed by Tate Taylor (The Help), The Girl on the Train centres around an ordinary woman who stumbles upon something decidedly out of the ordinary. In an attempt to liven up her humdrum commute to and from work, Blunt’s protagonist begins narrating a mock livelihood for a couple that live on a house adjacent to the train tracks. Blunt’s day-dreamer finds solace in her innocent game of make-belief until one day she witnesses something shocking occur in the house, and it isn’t long before she’s drawn in to the deadly scenario that unfolded before her very eyes.
Erin Cressida Wilson is set to pen the screenplay as Hawkins’ thriller makes the jump to the big screen, while the studio is yet to confirm who will be filling the shoes of the remaining female lead. Nevertheless, with Ferguson fresh off her eye-catching performance opposite Tom Cruise in Rogue Nation, we’re excited to see her switch gears from action blockbuster to meaty thriller.
No word yet on a release date for The Girl on the Train, though you can check out the official synopsis of Hawkins’ novel below.
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?