Leading up to the theatrical release of the political-thriller American Assassin - based on the Vince Flynn novel of the same name from 2010 - the first official teaser trailer has just been released online. Starring The Maze Runner lead actor Dylan O’Brien as CIA black ops recruit Mitch Rapp, the new movie directed by Michael Cuesta is all set to turn the heads of anyone eager to see another action-adventure centering around the highly volatile state of international relations in the Middle East.
After his girlfriend is killed in a terrorist attack, the CIA tasks Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton) with bringing the young and aggrieved Rapp (O’Brien) up to the task of thwarting future terrorist activities and hunting down their perpetrators. Unfortunately for Rapp and Hurley, a nefarious agent soon appears whose intentions include instigating a world war in the Middle East. Pulling from the director’s past work on both Homeland and the 2014 feature film Kill the Messenger, Cuesta should have a relatively easy time bringing Flynn’s novel to life on the big screen in the form of American Assassin, and the latest trailer certainly appears ready to confirm just that in spades.
In the footage featured above, distributor Lionsgate Films paints quite the picture of all the political intrigue soon to come in American Assassin proper. Focusing on the extent to which the tragic loss of his girlfriend to a terrorist attack instigated his own desire to join the CIA as a black ops recruit, the rest of the trailer hones in on Rapp’s singleminded dedication to becoming able to put an end to all future tragedies - though just how successful he will prove to be in tackling said task remains to be seen. In addition, a teaser poster was revealed, which you can see below:
It’s always nice to see Keaton in a supporting role, and his measured stability certainly lends a lot of gravitas to the proceedings. Furthermore, Cuesta seems intent on imbuing American Assassin with plenty of psychological drama to ground some of the larger action genre set pieces in real human emotion, which should result in a feature length endeavor fit to please general audiences.
Whether or not viewers will be especially eager to see another take on the same kind of real world gloom and doom that made the likes of American Sniper into a box office success and subsequent Oscar contender is up for debate. That being said, here’s to hoping for the very best when American Assassin makes its way to theaters later this fall.
Source: Lionsgate Films
- American Assassin Release Date: 2017-09-15
