EXCLUSIVE: Vera Farmiga will star alongside Liam Neeson in The Commuter, the Studiocanal-backed thriller that will be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and will start production this summer. Byron Willinger and Phil de Blasi wrote the script and Lionsgate is distributing in the U.S. The film is being produced by The Picture Company’s Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman.

Farmiga will play a mysterious woman who boards a commuter train and proposes an enticing opportunity to Neeson’s character, one that has dire circumstances if he accepts. The film has Hitchcock-ian elements like North By Northwest and Strangers On A Train. Farmiga, who is coming off The Conjuring 2 and the hit series Bates Motel, previously worked with Collet-Serra on Orphan. The director previously worked with Neeson on Non-Stop and Unknown. The director most recently wrapped The Shallows at Sony.

Collet-Serra and Ombra Films Partner Juan Sola exec produce and Studiocanal’s Ron Halpern is also a producer. Farmiga is repped by CAA, manager Jon Rubinstein and attorney Jodi Peikoff.