Lady Killer: Blake Lively & Diablo Cody teaming up for comic adaptation

Blake Lively is getting her shot at a Jennnifer’s Body of her own as the news breaks that she and Diablo Cody are teaming up for an adaptation of the Dark Horse Comic series Lady Killer. Blake will executive produce and star in the project while Oscar winner Cody is slated to write the screenplay, according to a new Deadline exclusive.

In the upcoming film, Lively will play Josie Schuller. In the comics, Josie appears like the picture-perfect 1950’s housewife, but she actually leads a second life where she works as a highly-trained killer for hire. Josie genuinely loves her second job, too, and her husband has no idea of the secrets she keeps.

I’ve been a fan of Lively’s for some time and I think she turned in fantastic performances in films like The Shallows and A Simple Favor. This sounds like the perfect vehicle for the actress, especially as she received widespread acclaim for her work in A Simple Favor –– which sounds a little similar in tone to Lady Killer.

Lady Killer could be Blake Lively’s version of Jennifer’s Body

It also reminds me a little of Jennifer’s Body, which starred Megan Fox and was also written by Cody. For years Jennifer’s Body was maligned by critics, but it found a very tight-knit cult following, especially among queer women and it has seen a rise in popularity over the past few years as many have gone back to reassess the film in light of the recent #MeToo and feminist movements.

I’ve always loved Jennifer’s Body and never been ashamed of it, but it’s nice to see that people are finally recognizing the film for its strengths and now it has a deserved cult following. It’d be great to see Lady Killer get a similar treatment (albeit right off the bat instead of 10 years too late).

This will be Lively’s first project in a while since she starred in the thriller The Rhythm Section. The movie will be produced by Mike Richardson and Keith Goldberg of Dark Horse Entertainment along with Lively and Kate Vorhoff for B for Effort.

No word on its potential production or release date just yet.