“The Girl on the Train” pulled into Leicester Square Odeon in London Tuesday night, returning home for its world bow.
Minor delays were likely along the railway-tracked carpet, as cast Emily Blunt, Luke Evans, Haley Bennett, and Rebecca Ferguson worked the vast press line.
The thriller’s inherent intrigue left a key question resonating around the U.K. premiere: Why has the tale had been transposed from London to New York? The story’s “Girl,” Blunt, was on hand to give a sober segue around the obstacle. “I just think that suburban commute is so universal, you can transplant the book and put it anywhere really,” she said.
The film’s villain/victim, Evans, explained his instinctive draw to the killer project, “It touches on human behavior and social situations that we hear of, experience, and watch on TV all the time.”
Director Tate Taylor took the stage before the screening, divulging insight into his preliminary drinking session, to gain project approval, with the novel’s author. “I went to meet Paula Hawkins for the first time, for an introductory cocktail. … I cannot tell you how relieved I was that she didn’t pull a can of gin and tonic out of her purse!” he joked, a verbal nod to her lead character’s notorious alcoholic vices.
“The Girl on the Train” opens Oct. 5 in the United Kingdom and Oct. 7 in the United States.
