Reed Morano has already left her mark on television (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) and independent films (“Meadowland”), but at the start of 2020 the beloved cinematographer-turned-filmmaker will make her major Hollywood studio debut with “The Rhythm Section.” The revenge thriller stars Blake Lively, Jude Law, Max Casella, and Sterling K. Brown and is based on the Mark Burnell novel of the same name. Burnell adapted his book for the big screen, with James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson backing the project at Paramount.
The official synopsis from Paramount Pictures reads: “Stephanie Patrick (Lively) is an ordinary woman on a path of self-destruction after her family is tragically killed in a plane crash. When Stephanie discovers that the crash was not an accident, she enters a dark, complex world to seek revenge on those responsible and find her own redemption.”
Morano got her start as the acclaimed cinematographer behind such films as the Sundance winner “Frozen River,” “Kill Your Darlings,” and “The Skeleton Twins.” Morano’s jump to television gave her a huge career boost as she served as the DP on Martin Scorsese’s short-lived “Vinyl,” “Looking,” and more before stepping behind the camera as a director for her indie debut “Meadowland” and the first three episodes of Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The latter won Morano Best Director prizes at the Emmy Awards and the Directors Guild of America Award. “The Rhythm Section” is Morano’s third directorial feature after “Meadowland” and Sundance drama “I Think We’re Alone Now.”
For Lively, “The Rhythm Section” offers a chance for her to flex her action movie muscles. The actress is coming off some of the best reviews of her career thanks to her 2018 soapy thriller “A Simple Favor.” The film was originally set to debut in February 2019 but had to be pushed back when Lively got injured during filming. Paramount set a November 2019 date but then settled for a launch at the start of 2020.
Paramount Pictures will release “The Rhythm Section” in theaters nationwide January 31, 2020. Watch the official trailer for the movie in the video below.
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