CBS Films has released the first American Assassin trailer. The upcoming thriller is based on the popular novel by Vince Flynn and stars Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) as CIA black ops recruit, Mitch Rapp. CBS Films hopes that this could be the start of a serious franchise since the Rapp character has led 15 novels.

While I'm not crazy about using the death of a woman to motivate the protagonist (Rapp's girlfriend is killed by terrorists, which makes him want to go out and kill terrorists), I do like that the focal point of the film seems to be on the training of Rapp's character and then setting him loose.  Although the film seems to be very much in "origin story" mode (as opposed to something like Jack Reacher, which just picks up a Reacher story and goes with it), O'Brien looks like a capable action hero, and this could be a solid series of thrillers if they get the tone and style right.  Here's hoping that it all comes together, and that O'Brien gets another franchise.

Check out the American Assassin trailer below. Directed by Michael Cuesta (Kill the Messenger), the film also stars Michael Keaton, Sanaa Lathan, Shiva Negar, and Taylor Kitsch. American Assassin opens September 15th.

Here’s the official synopsis for American Assassin:

AMERICAN ASSASSIN follows the rise of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien) a CIA black ops recruit under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). The pair is then enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on both military and civilian targets. Together the three discover a pattern in the violence leading them to a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent (Shiva Negar) to stop a mysterious operative (Taylor Kitsch) intent on starting a World War in the Middle East.