Fresh off of her incredible performance in the BBC’s psychological thriller The Girl Before, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is joining the cast of another exciting project.

As announced by Deadline this weekend, Mbatha-Raw has been cast as the female lead opposite Kevin Hart in Netflix’s upcoming action thriller, Lift.  

The role – which has apparently been one of the most coveted parts in Hollywood over the last couple of weeks – will see the actor play a female master thief who, in partnership with her ex-boyfriend (Hart) and the FBI, attempts to steal $100 million worth of gold bullion being transported on a 777 passenger flight from London to Zurich.  

Mbatha-Raw and Hart are just two of the exciting names attached to this project, however. Money Heist’s Úrsula Corberó is also joining the cast (she sure does love a heist) as well as Vincent D’Onofrio, Billy Magnussen, Yun Jee Kim, Viveik Kalra and Paul Anderson.

The film will be directed by F. Gary Gray, while Dan Kunka is writing the script.

While we don’t know much more about what to expect from the project at the moment, the hype surrounding the film and its characters is getting us excited.  

Lift will mark part of Kevin Hart and his company HartBeat Productions’ creative partnership with Netflix, under which he is set to star in four films for the streaming service, as well as lend his hand as a producer.

He is currently working on a comedy called Me Time under this deal, which will see Hart star alongside Regina Hall and Mark Wahlberg as a stay-at-home dad who finds himself with some ‘me time’ for the first time in years while his wife and kids are away.

As for Lift, we’ll keep this piece updated with the latest news as and when we get it, so keep your eyes peeled for any updates.  

Images: Getty/BBC