Courtney Hoffman, Costume Designer for ‘Hateful Eight,’ ‘Baby Driver,’ Making Her Directorial Debut

Female directors can’t seem to break into Star Wars, but that doesn’t mean Hollywood’s not looking for more and more these days. The latest to make her debut is Courtney Hoffman, who is best known as a costume designer for Baby Driver, The Hateful Eight, and Captain Fantastic. Hoffman has landed a much sought-after gig directing Ruthless, the script for which launched a competitive bidding war back in February.

According to Deadline, Ruthless, penned by John Swetnam, went up for auction around the time John Wick: Chapter 2 was making its big debut and the studios were hungry for more actioners in the same vein. Ruthless, which Amblin bought, is a Wick-type story of its own, this time featuring a female lead. So, Atomic Blonde, basically. The logline:

When a legendary retired assassin is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, she must return to the life she left behind and complete one final job in order to secure a future for her young daughter.

Hoffman made her directing debut with short film The Good Time Girls, which starred Laura Dern as the madam of a brothel in the Old West populated by prostitutes who hold all kinds of grudges. You can watch it here.

“I saw the short and immediately felt like I’d seen something I hadn’t before, with a clear perspective, and beautifully and confidently shot,” producer Matti Leshem told Deadline. “When the studio asked if we should consider her, we all said, absolutely.”