Before we begin, let it be known that despite what you read in the title, Tom Hiddleston and Ben Wheatley (hot off the excellent Free Fire) will not be remaking John Woo’s classic 1992 action film. That would be beyond awesome, but we’re instead referring to Frank Miller and Geof Darrow’s comic book Hard Boiled, which has been snapped up by Warner Bros. as a star vehicle for the aforementioned actor.
Deadline’s got the scoop on this one, and they’re telling us that the studio has recruited Hiddleston and Wheatley to bring the sci-fi story to life on the big screen. If you’re unfamiliar with it, Hard Boiled first debuted back in 1990 and focuses on “insurance investigator Carl Seltz, who learns that he’s really a homicidal cyborg tax collector codenamed Nixon. A fellow robot informs him that he’s the last hope for their race to escape their programmed slavery.”
This project is hugely exciting for a number of reasons. For one, it re-teams Hiddleston and Wheatley after the the critically acclaimed High-Rise, which was an excellent, yet sadly overlooked film (by audiences, at least). Secondly, it’s an adaptation of a Frank Miller story. As you probably already know, Miller is one of the most influential and celebrated comic book writers of all-time and though not his most popular work, Hard Boiled is still a solid tale, one which is well suited to Wheatley’s sensibilities.
In addition to all of that, Hiddleston desperately needs a franchise to headline now that his time in the MCU is coming to an end. Sure, Kong: Skull Island is on its way and does look pretty fantastic, but it’s not exactly his own franchise, given that it’s part of a shared universe with Godzilla, not to mention that he also has some prominent co-stars in the film who will probably take up just as much screen time as him.
But I digress. Hard Boiled sounds like a very exciting project and with two of the hottest talents in Hollywood now attached, you can bet that we’ll be watching it with a careful eye as it continues to develop.
