Blake Lively to star in new Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson’s new spy thriller, The Rhythm Section.

Based on the Stephanie Patrick novels by Mark Burnell, this new film about an assassin spy will star American actress Blake Lively as the heroine Patrick. IM Global will finance and produce the film with Bond production house EON Productions and Greg Shapiro and author Mark Burnell also executive producing.

“The movie is a contemporary adaptation of the first of Burnell’s Stephanie Patrick British series of four novels. Lively will play the titular heroine, who’s on a path to self-destruction after the death of her family in an airplane crash — a flight that she was meant to be on. After discovering that the crash wasn’t an accident, her anger awakens a new sense of purpose as she becomes an assassin to track down those responsible. Other novels in Burnell’s popular series include “Gemini,” “The Third Woman,” and “Chameleon.”

Variety, July 2017

Directed by Reed Morano (The Handmaiden’s Tale), the EON Productions title will begin in the Autumn and will shoot in countries hopefully including the UK, Switzerland, the US, Spain and Ireland.

“We are thrilled to be bringing Mark Burnell’s ‘The Rhythm Section’ to the big screen with our partners at IM Global,” Broccoli and Wilson said. “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.”

Variety, July 2017