An adaptation of Vince Flynn's best-selling book, American Assassin, has been in the works for years, with problems locking down a director and star the main hang-ups. A couple of months back Michael Cuesta (Kill the Messenger) came aboard to direct the first film based on Flynn's popular Mitch Rapp novels, and now Oscar winner Michael Keaton has come aboard in one of the key roles.
Keaton won't be playing badass CIA agent Mitch Rapp, however. Instead, he'll be playing someone even more dangerous, Cold War veteran Stan Hurley, tasked with whipping Rapp into shape and making him the toughest counter-terrorism officer in the Agency. The grief-stricken Rapp, whose fiancee was killed in a terrorist attack, joins Hurley on a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent to prevent a terrorist from starting WWIII in the Middle East.
Now the attention must go to finding a young star to play Rapp. Back in 2012 Chris Hemsworth was top of the list, while Bruce Willis had been up for the role Keaton just snagged.
