Jessica Chastain Leading A Female Spy Ensemble In 355

Look out, Bourne. Watch your back, Bond. Jessica Chastain and an impressive team of actresses is coming for your territory. Assuming it all works out – and it surely should – then Chastain, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Fan Bingbing and Lupita Nyong’o will hit our screens as a group of spies in new thriller 355.

Simon Kinberg, who just stepped up to directing with X-Men: Dark Phoenix, on whose set Chastain pitched him the idea, will call the shots, while Theresa Rebeck is writing the script. The concept finds top agents from agencies around the world having to find a way to work together when a new threat emerges, one on the verge of acquiring a weapon that could throw the world into total chaos.

After figuring she could fill the gap in the action thriller market for movies starring women, Chastain secured Kinberg's services and set about calling up her potential cast mates – who all said yes, and agreed to help launch the film to distributors at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

"When I was preparing for Zero Dark Thirty, I had incredible resources working in the CIA I got to learn from," Chastain tells Deadline. "We have a consultant in our film that has a lot of knowledge in espionage. This title came from one of the conversations I had with him. Agent 355 was the code name of a female spy during the American Revolution. She was one of the very first spies for the United States, and her identity is still unknown. For a lot of women who work in the CIA and other organizations like that, Code 355 is a universal slang term for female spy. It’s the invisible woman who was never named."

According to Chastain, it'll go toe to toe with the big franchise movies, with a few key differences. "It won’t be as hyperbolic as some franchises, and unlike the other films that revolve around one main character, the goal here is the true ensemble, all these characters who have their own distinct traits, histories — fully formed and complex characters with equal weight in the film. That’s unique, as is having all female spies. We are digging into the reality of spy craft today. There are all kinds of things that seem out of a James Bond or even a sci-fi movie, but the technology is so advanced that it’s real. Having someone who knows that reality informing the script has been really helpful."

As mentioned, Chastain, Kinberg and the rest of their cast will be at Cannes to present the film to potential buyers.