EXCLUSIVE: Following her star-making performance in the FX series Shōgun, Anna Sawai looks to have found her big follow-up. Sources tell Deadline that the Emmy winner is set to co-star in Amazon MGM Studios’ How to Rob a Bank, from director David Leitch, Imagine Entertainment and 87North Productions. Sawai joins previously announced stars Nicholas Hoult and Pete Davidson, and sources say the film will be released in theaters.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, but given Leitch’s track record of delivering on big thrills and fun set pieces in films like Bullet Train, Deadpool 2 and most recently The Fall Guy, expect something similar in scope.
87North’s Kelly McCormick and Leitch will produce alongside Imagine’s Brian Grazer, Jeb Brody and Allan Mandelbaum. Mark Bianculli (Hunters, upcoming Cliffhanger reboot) wrote the script and will executive produce.
Sawai took the town by storm last year following her Emmy-winning performance in Shogun. Not only was the series a massive hit for the network but earned the rising star a ton of accolades that included Sawai a Golden Globe for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama”, an Emmy in the category of “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series,” and a SAG Award in the category of “Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series.
Sawai is currently in production on (Saint) Peter, a coming-of-age dramedy, executive produced by Peter Farrelly and has recently wrapped production on the second season of Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Sawai can also be seen in Seasons 1 and 2 of the Apple TV+ adaptation of Pachinko, Justin Lin’s blockbuster F9, the ninth installment of Universal’s The Fast and the Furious franchise, the Netflix/BBC series Giri/Haji, and James McTeigue’s Ninja Assassin for Warner Bros. Anna Sawi is represented by WME, 42, United Agents, and Chris Abramson.
