The Girl on the Train, a novel by Paula Hawkins, was destined to be a best seller before it even hit the shelves. DreamWorks acquired the rights to its adaptation before its publication earlier this year. It has since spent 20 weeks and counting on the New York Times Best Sellers List, and now may soon have Emily Blunt (Into the Woods) locked in to play its protagonist and narrator in its film adaptation, according to The Wrap.
The story follows Rachel, an alcoholic divorcee who spends her daily commute on the train fantasizing about a couple living in one of the houses she sees out her window. After witnessing something shocking, she becomes involved in a mystery that spirals out of her control.
Tate Taylor of The Help and Get on Up will be directing, working from a screenplay adapted by Erin Cressida Wilson (Men, Women & Children). Besides Rachel, there will be two other major female roles to be filled as well.
Blunt is coming away from a successful 2014, having starred in the two blockbusters Edge of Tomorrow and Into the Woods, the latter of which garnered the actress a Golden Globe nomination. Since then, she has locked in starring roles in The Huntsman sequel alongside Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and in the animated film Animal Crackers. Her film Sicario, in which she plays an FBI agent caught in the crossfires of the drug war between the U.S.-Mexico border, premiered last month at the Cannes Film Festival.