It's one of the best-selling novels of the year, touted as the next Gone Girl – so it's unsurprising that plans for a movie adaptation of Paula Hawkins' bestselling thriller The Girl On The Train are underway. And according to reports, a top actress is already in talks to take on the leading role - British star Emily Blunt.The London-set story follows Rachel, a woman left devastated by her recent divorce who spends her commute fantasising about a seemingly perfect couple who live in a house her train passes every day. The one morning, she sees something shocking and becomes embroiled in a mystery.
Emily Blunt is said to be in talks to take the lead role in The Girl On The Train
The Girl on the Train is one of the fastest-selling novels in history, having sold more than two million copies in the US alone since it was first published in January. It took the top spot on the New York Times best sellers list, where it has remained for 19 weeks straight.The big screen adaptation is being directed by Tate Taylor, best known for The Help and Get On Up. There is speculation that House of Cards star Kate Mara is among the other actresses being considered for a role in the film.Emily, 32, is currently busy filming The Huntsman alongside Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron and Jessica Chastain – the follow-up to the 2012 film Snow White and The Huntsman, starring Kristen Stewart, who is not returning in the sequel.She recently returned from Cannes Film Festival, where she was busy promoting her latest movie, the gritty drug-trade thriller Sicario. Emily stars in the film alongside Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro, as US female police officer Kate Macy, who travels across the border to Mexico with a pair of mercenaries to track down a drug lord.
Emily with her Sicario co-stars Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro and director Denis Villeneuve
Speaking about her role at Cannes, the mum-of-one said: "It's more an anomaly to see a character like this in cinema. But the reality from the FBI agents that I spoke to, there's a lot of chicks in law enforcement. We just don't make movies about them very often. "Emily met with Sicario director Denis Villeneuve just four weeks after she had given birth to her little girl Hazel. "It seemed at the time like a bad fit for me to be doing at that point in my life," she said. "But I actually thought: 'This is really good to put out there for my daughter for her to see.'"I start to think now, becoming a mother. What am I putting out there in the world and what affect will that have? It's not only a really fantastic role for a woman; it's an intelligent argument."