We know who’s starring in the ‘Girl on the Train’ movie
The female leads for the film adaptation of The Girl on a Train have been officially cast, and we’re officially excited.
According to GalleyCat, the DreamWorks adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ bestselling novel will star Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, and Haley Bennett—or, as we like to think of them, a veritable trio of awesome.
Blunt, who has long held our love for her sense of humor and talent, will play the titular ‘girl’—a recent divorcée named Rachel who spends her commute day-dreaming about a couple whose house her train passes. The couple seems perfect; but obviously, that wouldn’t make for a very good thriller: Rachel is witness to an alarming incident then becomes personally involved in the events that follow.
Rebecca Ferguson, a.k.a. the breakout star of Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, is set to play Anna, one of the women possibly involved in the “incident.”
Haley Bennett’s casting should be no huge surprise: not only is she in three other films slated for 2016 releases, she also shared a photo of herself with the book on Instagram two weeks ago. For those who haven’t read it, Bennett’s character is currently more mysterious than the others: Variety simply describers her as, “the other woman Blunt’s character encounters.” Deadline, meanwhile, says the character is named Megan, and lists her as a lead.
The book has been likened to Gone Girl in that both are written by women, thrillers, closely examine the dark side of relationships, and have sold successfully. We hope the book will make for a similarly strong film: in addition to the stellar cast, it was adapted by Secretary’s Erin Cressida Wilson and will be helmed by Tate Taylor, who previous directed The Help.
With this team, The Girl on a Train seems like it will be part of what we hope is a growing trend of films—especially in typically male-centric genres like action and thrillers—starring women. Blunt is already familiar with taking on roles Hollywood wouldn’t typically give women: her character (and the starring role) in the upcoming film Sicario was almost rewritten and made male.
In related news, The Girl on a Train currently tops the Amazon U.K.’s ebook sales for the year, joining Gone Girl and three other books written by female writers as the top five; if that’s not a fantastic reason to 1) get reading, and 2) get excited for this movie, we don’t know what is!
(Images via Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Liddell Entertainment)
