RED SPARROW Trailer Promises The Black Widow Movie You Always Wanted

Red Sparrow looks to be another installment in the long line of female assassin movies that includes Luc Besson's La Femme Nikita and Joe Wright's Hanna. While we've clamored for a Black Widow spin-off for Scarlett Johansson's Avengers character, it looks like 20th Century Fox has gone ahead and given us a movie that skews rather close, without a connection to widely recognized cinematic IP.

Instead, the movie is the first to be based on Jason Matthews' Red Sparrow trilogy, outlining the origins of Soviet intelligence officer Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence). Before becoming an author, Matthews was a retired member of the CIA’s Operations Directorate, with a specialty in "denied-area" missions. So, there's a solid level of authenticity injected into the source text (which is often compared to John le Carré instead of Stan Lee). 

Here's your first extended trailer for Red Sparrow, which finds Jennifer Lawrence trying out her best 'Natasha' accent:

On one hand, it's great to have another female-fronted action picture. On the other, it just seems like they made a movie full of recognizable genre sign posts, familiar enough in marketing that you have to hope it distinguishes itself in feature form. In fairness, the supporting cast of Francis Lawrence's picture might be the biggest selling point, as it touts roles filled by Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeremy Irons.

 Guess we'll have to wait and see when Red Sparrow arrives in theaters on March 2, 2018.