Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

The Maze Runner’s Dylan O’Brien is no stranger to starring in movies based on books, but he’s taking a break from the young-adult genre and going in a darker direction with his next film, American Assassin.

Need proof? Take a look at the first image from the film, which shows O’Brien’s character Mitch Rapp pointing a gun at a lifeless body on the ground.

Based on the political thriller novel by the late Vince Flynn, American Assassin follows CIA black ops recruit, Rapp (O’Brien) who, under the tutelage of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton), attempts to stop a mysterious operative (played by Taylor Kitsch) from starting the next world war in the Middle East.

Rapp is the central character in 13 novels from Flynn and two from Kyle Mills (who took over the series following Flynn’s death). American Assassin was the eleventh book released in the series, but chronologically it is the first.

If the thriller proves to be a hit for CBS Films and Lionsgate, O’Brien could be looking at a work schedule devoted to two franchises (the third Maze Runner film releases in 2018 and two more adaptations could follow).

Of course, with so many books ripe for adaptation in Flynn’s series, there’s always the possibility that Lionsgate goes the Jack Ryan route.

Ryan, the main character in Tom Clancy’s best-selling series of espionage books, was portrayed by three actors (Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck) in movies based on the novels and by Chris Pine in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, which was written directly for the screen.

American Assassin, which also stars Sanaa Lathan and is directed by Michael Cuesta and is currently in production in Europe.

O'Brien next appears on the big screen in Deepwater Horizon, which releases on September 30.