Plug in the headphones and crank up the Whitney Houston; Lionsgate has today dispatched the second full trailer for The Hitman’s Bodyguard in which Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson forge an uneasy alliance to topple a power-crazy dictator (Gary Oldman).
Retaining the breathless pace of its forebear, this latest trailer is all about the crackerjack energy simmering between Jackson and Reynolds. The former is a wanted hitman – one of the most elusive in the world, in fact – leaving the Powers That Be little choice but to assign a bodyguard to escort him on his journey to the International Court of Justice. At least, that’s the idea. That onus is on Ryan Reynolds’ protection agent, who soon finds that he’s in over his head – way, way over his head – once Samuel L. Jackson’s assassin begins tearing up the idyllic canals of Amsterdam with reckless abandon. Also on board for the gleefully over-the-top actioner are Salma Hayek as SLJ’s fiery significant other, Elodie Yung (Daredevil, The Defenders), Oldman and Joaquim de Almeida of Our Brand Is Crisis.
Truth be told, The Hitman’s Bodyguard has been on ice for a long time – six years, in fact, when the initial screenplay from Tom O’Connor wound up on Hollywood’s famous Black List. That was in 2011, long before Ryan Reynolds slipped into costume as the Merc With a Mouth, but after Millennium Films swooped in to acquire the project – not to mention the moment when Patrick Hughes (The Expendables 3) signed on to replace Jeff Wadlow – the project began to make up for lost time. Will it be worth the wait? We’ll find out in three months’ time.
Never let him out of your sight, never let your guard down and perhaps most important of all, never fall in love. The Hitman’s Bodyguard will be dispatched into theaters on August 18th.
