The 355 is a 2022 American spy film featuring a “five-star” cast including Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, Diane Kruger, and Lupita Nyong’o.
Let’s find out more about the movie!
- The 355 is a 2022 American spy film.
- It was directed by Simon Kinberg.
- The screenplay is co-written by Theresa Rebeck and Kinberg.
- The film stars Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, Diane Kruger, and Lupita Nyong’o as a group of international spies who must work together to stop a terrorist organization from starting World War III. Édgar Ramírez and Sebastian Stan also star.
- The title is derived from Agent 355, the codename of a female spy for the Patriots during the American Revolution.[
- Chastain proposed the idea for the film while working with Kinberg on Dark Phoenix.
- The project was officially announced in May 2018, and at the 71st Cannes Film Festival.
- The distribution rights were acquired by Universal Pictures.
- The following year, filming took place in Paris, Morocco, and London.
- During post-production, Tom Holkenborg composed the film’s musical score.
- Following a delay from a January 2021 release, The 355 was theatrically released in the United States on January 7, 2022.
- The film received generally negative reviews from critics, who criticized it as generic and uninspired, although the cast received some praise.
- . It went on to debut to $4.8 million from 360,000 theater admissions, finishing third at the box office behind holdovers Spider-Man: No Way Home and Sing 2.
- Audiences during its opening were 56% female, 73% above the age of 25, 40% between 25–44, and 33% above the age of 45.
- The ethnic breakdown of the audience showed that 50% were Caucasian, 21% Hispanic or Latino, 17% African American, and 12% Asian/other.
- Marion Cotillard was cast but dropped out of the film for personal reasons. She was replaced by Diane Kruger.
- Bingbing Fan was a suspect in a Chinese tax evasion breakdown, until April 9, 2019 Bingbing was free to film her scenes.
- The film was the hottest-selling item in the Cannes market in May 2018.
- Universal Pictures paid $20 million for U.S. rights, while Huayi Bros. paid $20 million for distribution rights in China.
- Huayi Bros. walked away amid Bingbing Fan’s tax evasion scandal, leaving the project – with a budget said to be $75 million-plus – in jeopardy.
- Jessica Chastain proposed the idea for a female-led spy film in the same spirit as the Mission: Impossible and James Bond series to her Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg while in production on that film
- The film’s cast includes two Oscar winners: Penélope Cruz and Lupita Nyong’o.
- It also includes one Oscar nominee: Jessica Chastain.
- All the main actresses are represented by renowned agent Hylda Queally
- Jessica Chastain (Mason Browne) & Sebastian Stan (Nick Fowler) starred in “The Martian” (2015) together.
- The movie is in the vein of the Ocean’s series and the Bourne films.
- Sebastian Stan & Lupita Nyongo both play characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as Bucky “The Winter Soldier” Barnes & Nakia respectively
- This is the second film Jessica Chastain played a spy, the other being “Ava” (2020)
- Jason Flemyng (Elijah Clarke) & Jessica Chastain (Mason Brown) both played villains in the X-Men franchise: Jason in “X-Men: First Class” (2011) & Jessica in “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” (2019).
- Lupita Nyongo (Khadijah Adiyeme) & Sebastian Stan (Nick Fowler) both played in “Black Panther” (2018) although they shared no scenes together (Stan’s appearance was an after-credit scene).
