The Hitman's Bodyguard

The Hitman's Bodyguard
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Patrick Hughes
Written by	Tom O'Connor
Produced by	Mark Gill John Thompson Matt O'Toole Les Weldon
Starring	Ryan Reynolds Samuel L. Jackson Gary Oldman Salma Hayek Élodie Yung Joaquim de Almeida Kirsty Mitchell Richard E. Grant
Cinematography	Jules O'Loughlin
Edited by	Jake Roberts
Music by	Atli Örvarsson
Production companies	Millennium Media Cristal Pictures
Distributed by	Lionsgate
Release date	August 18, 2017(2017-08-18)
Running time	118 minutes
Countries	Bulgaria Canada Hong Kong Netherlands United States
Language	English
Budget	$30–69 million
Box office	$183.4 million

The Hitman's Bodyguardis a 2017action comedy filmdirected byPatrick Hughesand written by Tom O'Connor. It starsRyan ReynoldsandSamuel L. JacksonwithGary OldmanandSalma Hayek.In the film, Michael Bryce (Reynolds) must protect Darius Kincaid, an imprisoned hitman (Jackson), who is on his way to testify at theInternational Criminal Courtagainst a sadisticEastern Europeandictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Oldman).

The Hitman's Bodyguardwas released in the United States on 18 August 2017 and grossed $183 million worldwide. It received mixed reviews from critics who praised the performances and chemistry of Reynolds and Jackson and action sequences but criticized its clichéd plot and execution.A sequel titledHitman's Wife's Bodyguardwas released on 16 June 2021.

Plot

Michael Bryce lives a luxurious life as a successfulUK-based privatebodyguard,until his client Takashi Kurosawa, an international arms dealer, is assassinated on his watch. Two years later, the fallen-from-grace Bryce survives by protecting drug-addicted corporate executives inLondon.

Meanwhile, Vladislav Dukhovich, the viciousdictatorofBelarus,is on trial for crimes against humanity at theInternational Criminal Court.Unable to secure solid evidence or testimony against him, the prosecution's last hope is incarceratedhitmanDarius Kincaid, who agrees to testify against Dukhovich in exchange for the release of his wife Sonia from prison. Led byInterpolAgent Amelia Roussel, an armed convoy escorts Darius from the UK to the International Criminal Court inThe Hague.

With the aid of treacherous Interpol Assistant Director Jean Foucher, Dukhovich's men successfully ambush the convoy as it passes throughCoventryand kill most of the security team. Darius eliminates the attackers, and Amelia, the sole survivor, takes him to an Interpol safehouse in the city. Realizing that the agency can not be entrusted with the mission due to a possible leak, she enlists the help of Bryce, her ex, to escort and protect Darius on the way to The Hague.

They hitchhike to a ferry going toAmsterdam,where Sonia is being held. Darius reveals to Bryce that he was the one who killed Kurosawa, having spotted him by chance while on another job, causing an outraged Bryce to abandon him. As Bryce evaluates his past mistakes at a beer stand, Dukhovich's men attack Darius. Bryce regains his composure and helps Darius escape, but is captured in the process. As he's being tortured, Darius arrives and rescues Bryce.

After reconciling their differences, they arrive at The Hague with seconds to spare. Darius testifies that Dukhovich hired him to assassinate a political rival, but Darius witnessed Dukhovich carry out a mass execution and uploaded the massacre photos to a secretFTP sitethat he provides to the court.

Dukhovich admits guilt, and then resorts to his backup plan: bombing the court to escape. Foucher leaves the court before the bombing and Amelia deduces he was the traitor. In the confusion after the bomb goes off, Dukhovich seizes a gun to kill Darius, but Bryce dives in front of the bullet, taking the hit. Injured, he tells Darius to stop Dukhovich.

Foucher and Amelia struggle until Bryce shoots him to save Amelia. Darius pursues Dukhovich to the roof where he attempts to escape by helicopter his men hijacked. Darius destroys the helicopter and angrily kicks Dukhovich off the roof to his death for shooting Bryce.

Darius is rearrested for his various crimes but breaks out ofBelmarsh Prisonseveral months later so he and Sonia can celebrate their anniversary in the bar inHonduraswhere they first met. As a wild bar brawl breaks out around them, they kiss.

Cast

• Ryan Reynoldsas Michael Bryce, a disgraced triple-A ratedexecutive protectionagent andCIAofficer
• Samuel L. Jacksonas Darius Kincaid, a foul-mouthed, infamous hitman and Sonia's husband
• Gary Oldmanas Vladislav Dukhovich, the dictatorialPresident of Belarusand later a terrorist leader
• Salma Hayekas Sonia Kincaid, Darius's wife
• Élodie Yungas Amelia Roussel, anInterpolagent and Michael's ex-girlfriend
• Joaquim de Almeidaas Jean Foucher, the French Assistant Director of Interpol and Dukhovich's mole
• Barry Atsmaas Moreno, the lead prosecution lawyer
• Tine Joustra as Renata Casoria, Director of Interpol
• Kirsty Mitchellas Rebecca Harr, Kincaid's lawyer
• Sam Hazeldineas Garrett, aNational Crime Agencyofficer
• Mikhail Gorevoyas Litvin, Dukhovich's lead defense lawyer
• Richard E. Grantas Mr. Seifert, a drug-addicted corporate executive and client of Bryce
• Rod Hallettas Professor Asimov, a political opponent of Dukhovich's, and witness against him
• Yuri Kolokolnikovas Ivan, Dukhovich's Chief Lieutenant
• Georgie Glenas ICC Lead Judge
• Patrick Hughesas Interpol Agent

Production

Development

In May 2011,David Ellison'sSkydance Mediaacquired the action scriptThe Hitman's Bodyguardwritten by Tom O'Connor.The script was among the top 2011Black Listof unproduced screenplays.While originally intended as a drama, the script underwent a "frantic" two-week rewrite to be remade into a comedy several weeks prior to filming.

On November 4, 2015, Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, and Gary Oldman were cast in the film, whichJeff Wadlowwould direct forMillennium Films.Producers would be Mark Gill, John Thompson, Matt O'Toole and Les Weldon.On February 23, 2016, Élodie Yung and Salma Hayek were cast in the film, whichLionsgatewould distribute in the United States.On March 9, 2016, it was reported that Wadlow had exited the film andPatrick Hughessigned on to direct the film.

Filming

Principal photographybegan on April 2, 2016, in London, Amsterdam, andSofia. Originally, just one scene was to be shot in Amsterdam but when Hughes visited the location and saw its surroundings he decided to move some "London scenes" to the old inner city of Amsterdam. The Coventry-based scenes were also filmed in London.

Reception

Box office

The Hitman's Bodyguardgrossed $75.5 million in the United States and Canada and $107.9 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $176.6 million, against a production budget between $30–69 million.

In North America,The Hitman's Bodyguardwas released alongsideLogan Luckyand the wide expansion ofWind River,and was projected to gross $17–20 million from 3,350 theaters in its opening weekend.The film made $8 million on its first day (including $1.65 million from Thursday night previews).It went on to open to $21.4 million, topping the box office.In its second weekend the film made $10.3 million, finishing first at the box office in what was the combined lowest-grossing weekend since September 2001.The film made another $10.5 million the following weekend, becoming the third film of 2017 to finish atop the box office for three straight weeks. However, while it made an estimated $12.9 million over the four-day Labor Day weekend, this too was a historically low-grossing weekend for movies— indeed the worst combined holiday weekend since 1998.

Critical response

Onreview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoes,the film holds an approval rating of 43% based on 228 reviews, and anaverage ratingof 5.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Hitman's Bodyguardcoasts on Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds' banter—but doesn't get enough mileage to power past an overabundance of action-comedy clichés. "OnMetacritic,which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score 47 out of 100, based on 42 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".Audiences polled byCinemaScoregave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, whilePostTrakreported filmgoers gave it an 80% overall positive score and a 57% "definite recommend".

Peter Debruge ofVarietygave the film a positive review and called it a pleasant late-summer surprise, writing: "The Hitman's Bodyguardis about as close to a live-action cartoon as you're likely to get this year... That's not a style that works much of the time... but in the hands ofThe Expendables 3helmer Patrick Hughes—and more importantly, owing to the chemistry of stars Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds—it makes for a delightfully ridiculous screwball action comedy. "Writing forRolling Stone,Peter Traverspraised the cast, giving it 2.5 stars out of 4 and saying, "Reynolds and Jackson make this summer lunacy go down easy with their banter and bullet-dodging skills. They're the only reason thatThe Hitman's Bodyguarddoesn't completely sink into the generic quicksand from whence it came. "

Sequel

Main article:Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard

In May 2018, it was announced that Reynolds, Jackson, and Hayek were in early talks to reprise their roles for a sequel, titledHitman's Wife's Bodyguard,with plans to begin filming later in the year.Production on the sequel began in March 2019, withFrank Grillo,Antonio Banderas,andMorgan Freemanjoining the cast of the film.

External links

• Official website
• The Hitman's BodyguardatIMDb
• The Hitman's BodyguardatRotten Tomatoes