After decades of bouncing from one studio to the next, the assassin movie looks finally locked and loaded for summer shooting.
with Guardians of the Destroyer Galaxy Vol. 3,
Dave Bautista has confirmed his next movie, an action comedy Killer Game .
Lionsgate has joined the long-term development project, acquired global distribution rights and set JJ Perry, stuntman who made his directorial debut in
Day Shift, to the helm function.
Lionsgate will launch the game Unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival, production began this summer.
Based on the novel by Jay Bonansinga, the game follows a veteran assassin named Joe Vlad (Bautista) who is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. In order to financially build up his loved ones, he authorizes the killing of himself. However, after ordering the kill, he discovers he has been misdiagnosed and must fight off an army of former colleagues.
From a screenplay by Rand Ravich and Simon Kinberg, recently rewritten by James Coyne.
Hollywood has been struggling to get this assassin movie project off the ground for over two decades. It was set up at Paramount in Co-produced by Intermedia. That was after Alex Proyas, Renny Harlin, Wolfgang Petersen and John Woo flirted with then-hot directors.
Broad Green Game’s home in
at STX at 1296 and cast Jason Statham and DJ Caruso directly before. Statham went down and got stuck in the 2018 Bautista was on board for the first time before the project got stuck again.
Andrew Lazar of Mad Chance has been working on this for decades and is producing it with Steve Richards of Endurance Media. Endurance Media is funding the project.
“Lionsgate is the perfect home for this project,” Richards said in a statement. “They have consistently proven their ability to connect action movie audiences to the genre’s best films. We believe
The Killer’s Game is the perfect blend of action and comedy, and right now, no one is better at threading the needle than Dave Bautista. We can’t wait to get started.”
“ Andrew and Steve brought us an offer we couldn’t refuse,” said Nathan Kahane, President, Lionsgate Film Group. “We foresee strong interest from the market, and we believe its combination of bold action, star power and entertaining writing will thrill audiences around the world.”
Bautista and Jonathan Meisner will serve as Executive Producer of Dogbone Entertainment. Jack Katowski and Vanessa Humphrey will co-produce. Kia Jam is also produced. Scott Lambert serves as executive producer.
Bautista will next appear in Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune in Part Two). He is represented by CAA, Meisner Entertainment Group and Jackoway Austen
Perry spent 87 Years as a stuntman, stunt coordinator, and second unit director, working on everything from the original Mortal Kombat and blade to The Fast and the Furious installment of the movie. He is part of Eleven Action Design and Chad Stahelski disciples. Perry made his feature film debut last year with Netflix action comedy Day Shift , starring Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco. He represented WME, managers Holly Jeter and Sloane Offer.
THR Communications
Sign up for THR news direct to your inbox daily
SUBSCRIBE register