Hollywood Popular Artists

Oct 11th 2012, 18:00

By Carolyn Amurao

A movie franchise of Vince Flynn's bestselling novel series is finally kicking off with "American Assassin," Deadline reports, and Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth is sought to play terrorist hunter Mitch Rapp. CBS Films has offered $10 million to Hemsworth, who has recently starred in big titles such as "Thor," "The Avengers," and "Snow White and the Huntsman." Action star Bruce Willis could also join the cast as Rapp's CIA mentor.

The film will be directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, who co-wrote "The Day After Tomorrow" and has directed episodes of Showtime's "Homeland." The most recent script draft was written by Mike Finch ("Predators"), while the CBS Films' Lorenzo di Bonaventura ("Transformers") and Nick Wechsler are onboard as producers.

"American Assassin" will be the big screen adaptation of the 11th book of the espionage series. In the novel, Rapp is a talented college athlete, who has not yet become a CIA super-agent. He is recruited after a terrorist attack, which leads him to an intense six months of training. Then, once embarking to Istanbul and Europe to battle the rise of Islamic terrorism, he establishes himself as the deadliest of killers.

Can Hemsworth deliver the goods? We'll have to wait and see. Even though he has enjoyed recent blockbuster success, "American Assassin" will really be an opportunity for him to shine as the leading man. Exciting roles in a "Thor" sequel, as well as, "Robopocalypse" (directed by Steven Spielberg) are also coming up for the actor. After that, the rumored sequels of "The Avengers" and "Snow White and the Huntsman" should keep him.

Media files:
chris-hemsworth-rush-banner-70x53.jpg (image/jpeg)