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Clearly riding on the success of her fantastic turn as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, Charlize Theron has just stepped into the leading role of action thriller The Gray Man; a role once occupied by Brad Pitt.
Obviously, given Pitt’s former attachment, and the title of the film (and the Mark Greaney novel upon which it’s based), Theron’s casting has prompted a gender-switch of the lead role; that of the world’s greatest assassin; a former CIA operative who winds up on the burn list after a bundled hit, hunted by both the authorities and various nefarious types, all while having to clear herself, and protect her two daughters (neither of whom know who she is).
Due to be directed by James Gray (We Own The Night), and originally scripted by Adam Cozad (Jack Ryan) before a retooling by Joe and Anthony Russo (who may have directed, if they weren’t so busy with Captain America), there’s currently no start date, and no other cast members attached. Though as soon as the script is given another edit (to allow for Theron’s casting), things will likely fall into place fairly quickly.
As a side-note, while uncommon, this type of gender swap isn’t entirely unheard of – CCH Pounder’s role in FX series The Shield was originally written for a middle-aged white man, and Angelina Jolie famously replaced Tom Cruise in the action/thriller Salt (a somewhat similar movie to The Gray Man), both with extremely positive results.
Matt Wheeldon – @TheMattWheeldon.
Source: Deadline.
