Justin Theroux Boards ‘The Girl On The Train’ As Arrival Date Is Confirmed

The film adaptation of The Girl On The Train continues to add to its A-list cast, and it has now been confirmed that The Leftovers star Justin Theroux is close to boarding the film in a lead role. The news emerged at the same time as the arrival date of the movie, which will be October 7, 2016.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Justin Theroux will step into the role vacated by Chris Evans, who left the project due to scheduling conflicts. The Girl On The Train revolves around Rachel, an alcoholic divorcee played by Emily Blunt. During her daily commute, she becomes obsessed with a couple she observes from the train, who seem to have the perfect married life. When Rachel thinks she’s witnessed a murder, matters take a turn for the worse when she realizes that she may have been involved in the crime. Events become more bizarre when she realizes her ex-husband and his new wife live in the same neighborhood.

Justin Theroux will play Rachel’s ex-husband, Tom. He will be joined by Rebecca Ferguson, fresh off the set of blockbuster Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, who will play his on-screen wife. Jared Leto and Haley Bennett are expected to play Scott and Megan, the “perfect” married couple at the center of Rachel’s adventure.

The Girl On The Train, the bestselling novel by Paula Hawkins, was released in January and sold over 3 million copies. Dreamworks purchased the rights and will adapt the movie for the big screen. The Help‘s Tate Taylor will step behind the camera to direct a script by Erin Cressida Wilson. Marc Platt is producing the film, which will be executively produced by Jared LeBoff and Celia Costas.

The novel, a psychological domestic thriller, attracted many comparisons to Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, a novel very much in the same vein and setting. The 2012 book was adapted into a 2015 movie, which starred Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, and divided audiences with its content matter.

When asked about the potential pigeon-holing caused by the sub-genre, during an interview with the Guardian, author Paula Hawkins confirmed the following.

“I don’t object to being put into that genre. I’m not sure it’s new. I think what happens is, something like Gone Girl does well, and then it becomes a phenomenon and everybody notices it. But crime books in domestic settings have been written for a long time. And it’s these kinds of psychological thrillers that interest me more. If you ever face violence, an awful lot of it is in the home. Those are the concerns that perhaps women face more; if we’re going to be victims of violence, it’s usually in a domestic setting, so those are things we think about a bit more. I’m interested not so much in crime or the act of violence itself but in the psychology of violence, and how we get there.”

With such a heavyweight production and an immensely talented cast, the film is gearing up to be as popular as the source material. We shall see when the film hits theaters in 2016.

For a film brimming with A-list talent, Theroux should be right at home. A talented character actor, he is most famous for starring in HBO’s The Leftovers. Currently in its second season, the drama series is receiving positive reviews. Theroux has many notorious roles under his belt — including Seth in Wanderlust (2012) and Leezar in Your Highness (2011) — and he also has a number of quirky bit-parts to his name including Timothy Bryce, one of Patrick Bateman’s drug-taking, heavy drinking yuppie friends in American Psycho (2000).

Theroux, who is married to Jennifer Aniston, joins a cast of incredibly versatile actors and actresses. It will be interesting to see what attention Jared Leto brings to the film in 2016, with The Girl On The Train being released in the aftermath of his infamous turn as The Joker in Suicide Squad. With Emily Blunt in the lead role, who is riding high after phenomenal turns in Sicario and Edge of Tomorrow, and several high profile stars dropping out for various reasons, the film is already garnering some positive buzz.

The Girl On The Train will arrive in theaters on October 7, 2016.

[Featured image courtesy of Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images]