Exclusive: Charlize Theron Attached To Netflix Assassin Movie From Star Trek Director
She’s played professional killers before, but this time she won’t need to go to the future. Our trusted and proven sources tell us Charlize Theron will star in Ruthless Resurgence, a Netflix original in which she’ll play an assassin on the run. In the director’s chair is Justin Lin, who helmed 2016’s Star Trek Beyond: the most recent of the Trek features.
According to the logline we were provided, in Ruthless Resurgence Charlize Theron will play a retired assassin who is forced to confront her past when a vengeful adversary resurfaces. Their reunion leads to a high-octane battle of wits and survival across multiple continents.
We’ve exclusively learned Charlize Theron will play an assassin in the Netflix original Ruthless Resurgence, directed by Star Trek Beyond‘s Justin Lin.
Ruthless Resurgence won’t be the first collaboration between Charlize Theron and Justin Lin, though the former has steered clear of the Star Trek franchise (unless you count her one-off on Season 1 of The Orville). Theron made her Fast & Furious debut as Cipher in 2017’s The Fate of the Furious, and she returned for the 2021 follow-up F9: The Fast Saga, which Lin directed.
Lin was originally slated to direct her once again in this year’s Fast X, but when he walked away at the eleventh hour — reportedly over frustrations with Vin Diesel constantly changing the script, adding new cast, and inflating the budget — Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk) replaced him. Lin stayed on as executive producer.
Charlize Theron And Netflix
With Ruthless Resurgence, Charlize Theron will no doubt strengthen her ties with Netflix, through whom she released one of her most acclaimed roles of recent memory, 2020’s The Old Guard. Based on the creator-owned comics of the same name by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández, the movie stars Theron as the head of a group of near-immortal mercenaries who have been fighting for centuries.
Then there’s Atomic Blonde 2, the upcoming sequel to 2017’s Atomic Blonde. While the first film released in theaters, in 2020 Discussing Film reported the sequel was in development as a Netflix exclusive.
Charlize Theron: Action Hero
Her upcoming collaboration with Justin Lin is another example of Charlize Theron — who turned 48 this month — thriving as an action star. Along with her prominence in the Fast & Furious series, Theron joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe last year as the sorceress Clea in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
She has the upcoming action sequels The Old Guard 2 and Fast X Part 2 on the way, and of course she was a part of one of the action films many would argue is one of the greatest things to ever appear on the big screen: 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road.
As for when we can expect to see Charlize Theron in Ruthless Resurgence, it’s difficult to say. The Old Guard 2 finished principal photography last year, but presumably Ruthless Resurgence will need to get in line behind Atomic Blonde 2 and Fast X Part 2. Not to mention all of those productions and more need to wait for the resolution of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
