When it comes to the Holy Trinity of professional wrestlers who made it big in Hollywood – which is of course Dwayne Johnson, John Cena, and Dave Bautista – most people would agree that the latter is by far the best actor when it comes to range and dramatic chops.
Fortunately, the Marvel Cinematic Universe veteran seems completely aware of that fact too, and has publicly stated on a number of occasions that he doesn’t want to be known as an action hero. However, Bautista appears to be sabotaging his own plan by signing on for another action movie, one that’s been mired in development hell for close to two decades.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the Blade Runner 2049 and Knock at the Cabin alum will headline The Killer’s Game, set to be directed by J.J. Perry, who made a solid-if-unspectacular feature-length debut on Netflix’s vampire romp Day Shift. The plot will find Bautista’s veteran assassin diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, forcing him to put a hit out on himself in order to secure financial stability for his family, before he then finds out the prognosis was all wrong and instead needs to fight for survival.
It’s a solid premise, and even though Bautista hasn’t quite reached Liam Neeson-levels of continuously lying about his desire to step away from running and gunning, The Killer’s Game sounds like a fun little genre flick. Of course, the easiest way to avoid being pigeonholed as an action hero is not to appear in action movies, but you’ve got to say he’s proven himself more than capable of breaking out of the box Hollywood initially tried to put him in.
