Author Gillian Flynn's page-turner Gone Girl lit up the book charts and then the box office last year, and it appears as though Hollywood has found its next “it” book to adapt, and it's another thriller from a female author. The Help director Tate Taylor recently signed on to helm an adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ so hot right now novel The Girl on the Train, and now an impeccably talented actress is being tapped to take on the lead role. The Wrap reports that Emily Blunt is in early talks to star in the DreamWorks adaptation, which is picking up some serious steam as it looks to be a priority for the studio.
The story follows a lonely, alcoholic divorcee who uses her daily commute to fantasize about the seemingly perfect life of the couple she glimpses every day when the train stops at the signal. One day, however, she sees something shocking during the train's routine stop, and subsequently becomes entangled in a web of intrigue.
The tone is undoubtedly Hitchockian in nature, and one imagines Blunt could do wonders with this role. There are two other major female characters in the Erin Cressida Wilson (Secretary) script, and The Wrap notes that Kate Mara is being eyed for one of them.
Marc Platt is producing the adaptation, and the book is already drawing favorable comparisons to Gone Girl as it dominates the best-seller chart. It’s now the fastest-selling adult novel in history, with over two million copies sold in the U.S. alone since it first hit shelves in January.
Should Blunt’s deal close, one imagines DreamWorks will move quickly to put this thing together in anticipation of a fall or winter production start date. Taylor followed up his Best Picture-nominated The Help with the James Brown biopic Get on Up, but The Girl on the Train marks a considerable change in tonal direction for the filmmaker. Blunt, meanwhile, is drawing raves for her performance in Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming thriller Sicario and is currently filming Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman spinoff/sequel The Huntsman opposite Chris Hemsworth, Jessica Chastain, and Charlize Theron.
Read the synopsis for the book 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?
Compulsively readable, The Girl on the Train is an emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller and an electrifying debut. [BN.com]
