Perhaps with a revived taste for action following her storming success in Mad Max: Fury Road, Charlize Theron is grabbing the opportunity to star in what has hitherto been known as **The Gray Man, based on Mark Greaney's novel. She's prompted a gender switch in the lead role, which once had Brad Pitt attached.
The story as we currently know it involves the world’s greatest assassin, Court Gentry: a former CIA operative whose name crops up on the “burned” list after a job goes wrong. On the run from unknown forces, without the usual go-to resources, our hero has to get pretty creative to survive. And as an extra headache, Gentry must also save two daughters who have no idea of their true parentage.
When you put it like that, it doesn't seem as if all that much retooling would be required to make Gentry into Theron. It's not without precedent either: Salt had a gender change in the lead when Angelina Jolie took an interest after Tom Cruise dropped out.
James Gray (The Yards, We Own The Night, name a coincidence) is directing this one. The screenplay was originally by Adam Cozad (Jack Ryan) and has since been overhauled by Joe and Anthony Russo, who might have directed it themselves had their destiny not become inextricably linked with Captain America. It'll need a bit more work by somebody before it's ready to go before the cameras with Theron, however, so there's no start date yet.