Oppenheimer actor Emily Blunt has signed on to star as Kate Warne, the first female detective in the U.S., in an Amazon Studios-produced film.

Melissa Stack wrote the screenplay from a previous draft by Gustin Nash. The untitled film, described as a "propulsive action thriller", centers around a real-life Sherlock Holmes-esque character. Kate Warne was the first female detective at the Pinkerton agency and, according to a release, paved the way for future women in law enforcement and forever changed how detective work was done.

Blunt, who will also produce the movie, hasn’t finalized her deal because of the actors strike, but conversations are expected to resume once the guild has a new pact.

Blunt will portray Warne, the late New York native who worked for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, played a key role in uncovering a major assassination plot against President Abraham Lincoln and did intelligence work during the American Civil War. Warne worked on several high-profile cases and recruited female agents for Pinkerton throughout her tenure. Her life was cut short at age 35 due to pneumonia. The upcoming film about Warne has been described as a "propulsive action thriller."

Blunt is coming off her performance as Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's R-rated biographical thriller, Oppenheimer, playing the wife of the titular theoretical scientist. Starring alongside Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh and Matt Damon, Oppenheimer, which chronicles the evolution of the Manhattan Project to create the world's first atomic weapons during World War II, has become one of 2023's biggest success stories in the film industry, grossing over $942 million to become the third-highest-grossing release of the year and the highest-grossing biopic of all time.

Source: Press Release