Charlize Theron will star as an assassin in gender-swapped role originally taken by Brad Pitt

Charlize Theron will star as an assassin in gender-swapped role originally taken by Brad Pitt  Charlize Theron looks set to join an assassin thriller in the lead role – which was originally written as male.

Brad Pitt was once attached to the part, but now it’s Mad Max: Fury Road star Theron who is being lined up for The Gray Man as an expert CIA operative turned assassin.

In the original script, the protagonist must rescue the daughters he never knew he had while being heavily pursued by his enemies, according to Deadline.

The Gray Man, adapted from the Mark Greaney novel of the same name, is penned by Captain America: The Winter Soldier duo Joe and Anthony Russo.

However, there’s a chance that Theron might not be returning for the Mad Max sequel as the scene-stealing Imperator Furiosa.

Previous examples of gender-swapped heroes include Salt – which was meant to star Tom Cruise before Angelina Jolie took over – and Alien, a horror eventually starring Sigourney Weaver.

Source: digitalspy.co.uk