All-Star Female Cast Announced for Spy Thriller 355, Produced by Jessica Chastain

See you later James Bond, it’s time for some ladies to take over the action. Jessica Chastain, Marion Cotillard, Fan Bingbing, Penelope Cruz and Lupita Nyong’o are starring in the forthcoming spy thriller 355.

Chastain’s production company Freckle Films will produce the film, with her X-Men: Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg on board to direct, according to THR. The women-led secret agent story is based on a script by Theresa Rebeck, from an original idea by Chastain. The story follows five international ladies from different spy agencies around the world who come together to stop a massive organization from throwing the world into chaos and destruction. During this adventure, differences cause collisions, but the five overcome their suspicions of each other to form a new secret agent sisterhood, code-named 355.

The two-time Oscar-nominated actress will produce alongside her producing partner and Freckle Films president Kelly Carmichael, as well as director Kinberg.

“I see creating something like 355 as an opportunity and privilege to assemble a diverse group of women, all of whom have greatly influenced the film industry through their work, to join together equally and explore the bad ass world of international espionage and thrillers,” said Chastain in a statement.

“It’s something I’ve never seen, and it’s something that I believe will be not only incredibly entertaining for today’s global audience, but also something inspiring for an increasingly divided world,” added Kinberg in his own statement.

Chastain and Fan Bingbing worked together not in a film per se, but as Jury members for the 70th Cannes Film Festival last year. Bingbing, a massive international star hailing from China, starred in X-Men: Days of Future Past, among many other films. Oscar winners Cotillard (Best Actress for 2007’s La Vie En Rose, Cruz (Best Supporting Actress for 2008’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona) and Nyong’o (Best Supporting Actress for 2013’s 12 Years a Slave) complete this legendary lineup, and are each coming off very strong years. Cruz most recently starred in Murder on the Orient Express and played Donatella Versace in Ryan Murphy’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. She will be seen on La Crosiette at Cannes this year with her headlining film Everybody Knows. Cotillard will also be at Cannes this year with her film Angel Face, and will also star in the forthcoming The Voyage of Dr. Dolittle. A Cannes frequenter, last year she starred in the festival’s opening night film, Ismael’s Ghost, and the year before that she starred in Xavier Dolan’s Grand Jury-winning It’s Only the End of the World. Nyong’o is coming off of the gigantic successes of Black Panther and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. She will star in the forthcoming The Woman King with Viola Davis and Trevor Noah’s memoir Born a Crime, as well as a newly announced remake of John Woo’s action classic The Killer.

Chastain has been quite busy lately with her push for more female storytelling in the post-Weinstein era that Hollywood is entering. A huge #MeToo advocate who is often outspoken on gender representation, the actress is stepping behind the camera to produce multiple forthcoming projects featuring strong female leads, including an adaptation of Tom Clancy’s The Division with Jake Gyllenhaal. Chastain can be seen in the forthcoming A24 film Woman Walks Ahead, It: Chapter Two, the aforementioned X-Men: Dark Phoenix and an Untitled Holiday Comedy with her friend Octavia Spencer.