Dylan O’Brienis now finally back in front of cameras aftersuffering a serious accidenton the set ofMaze Runner: The Death Cureearlier this year, and now our first look at O’Brien in the potential franchise-starterAmerican Assassinhas arrived. This past spring, O’Brien was involved in a significant accident on theMaze Runnerset that shut that film’s production down so O’Brien could recuperate. The sequel is now back on trackto resume filming in early 2017, but before that, O’Brien will lead another potential franchise in theVince FlynnadaptationAmerican Assassin.
There are 15 books in all in Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series, and inAmerican AssassinO’Brien brings to life Rapp’s early rise as a CIA black ops recruit. Working under the instruction of a Cold War veteran, played byMichael Keaton, Rapp is tasked with investigating apparently random attacks on military and civilian targets that lead them on the trail of a mysterious operative who’s intent on starting World War III in the Middle East.Taylor Kistchwill play against type here as the film’s villain, and the aim for this CBS Films and Lionsgate co-production is to begin a series of Mitch Rapp films starring O’Brien.
This first look image isn’t much, but as O’Brien hasn’t made many public appearances since his accident, fans will no doubt be happy to see that the actor has recovered nicely and is ready to get back in action. It’s curious that he’s shootingAmerican Assassinin the middle ofDeath Curefilming, and I do wonder how much ofDeath Curewas completed before production was shut down.
Regardless, take a look at Dylan O’Brien as Mitch Rapp in theAmerican Assassinimage below, which was snapped during O’Brien’s recent screen test. Directed byHomelandandKill the MessengerhelmerMichael Cuesta, the film also starsSanaa LathanandShiva Negar.American Assassinis currently shooting in Europe and does not yet have a release date.
Here’s the official synopsis forAmerican 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.
