Jennifer Lawrence is a ballerina who becomes a Russian spy trained to use her body and mind as weapons in the first trailer for Red Sparrow. The 20th Century Fox production reunites the actress with Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Mockingjay director Francis Lawrence. The script is by Justin Haythe (A Cure for Wellness) and Eric Warren Singer (American Hustle). Rooney Mara and David Fincher were at one point attached to the project.
When young ballerina Dominika Egorova (Lawrence) suffers a career-ending injury, a misfortune that threatens both her livelihood and that of her mother, she finds herself pressured into joining a secret Russian intelligence service that trains gifted young people to use their bodies and minds as deadly weapons. On her first mission, Egorova meets a CIA agent (Joel Edgerton) who makes her question everything she has been taught to believe.
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The first trailer for Red Sparrow from 20th Century Fox (see above) places star Jennifer Lawrence front-and-center. We see Lawrence as a young ballerina in a glamorous red dress sitting alone on a bed waiting for something. Ominous voice-over tells us about the secret Sparrow School program, where a scary-looking headmistress played by Charlotte Rampling teaches young people the skills they need to become spies, including the art of seduction.
An unmistakable Atomic Blonde vibe comes over the clip as Lawrence dons a blonde wig and sets about on her shady spy activities. The clip sets up the story succinctly while holding back on spoiling any of the plot, giving us a healthy dose of Lawrence in various guises. The spy school bits have a little Hunger Games training feel, though the training undergone by the spies in Red Sparrow is undoubtedly crueler than what the contestants in Hunger Games had to endure (Charlotte Rampling is about the last person you would want staring you down after you messed up in class).
With the release of mother! this weekend, Jennifer Lawrence will attempt to bounce back at the box office after her muddled sci-fi drama Passengers tanked late last year. Lawrence is certainly one of the main attractions of mother! and is garnering Oscar buzz for her performance, but with Darren Aronofsky in the director's chair there's a sense that the movie is as much his show as it is hers. Red Sparrow will be much more on Lawrence's shoulders and it will be interesting to see if her star power is strong enough to open the movie.
Red Sparrow also stars Mary-Louise Parker, Matthias Schoenaearts, Jeremy Irons, Ciaran Hinds, Joely Richardson and Joel de la Fuente.
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Source: 20th Century Fox
