Now that the future is less than certain for Paramount’s ambitious, rebooted Terminator franchise – in this timeline, at least – and Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables have been put on ice, Arnold Schwarzenegger is beginning to snap up roles that aren’t simply designed for fan service.
Case in point: Why We’re Killing Gunther, a new action-comedy hailing from Saturday Night Live star Taran Killam. Poised to make his directorial debut, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Killam has set sights on Schwarzenegger to headline the light-hearted affair, joining Bobby Moynihan, Paul Brittain, Silicon Valley‘s Kumail Nanjiani, Randall Park and Ryan Gaul.
Directing from his own script, the core premise of Why We’re Killing Gunther centers on a squad of international assassins who come together in order to hitch a plan to bump off Gunther, the world’s greatest hitman who, despite his skills, is inherently unlikeable due to his infuriating arrogance. Always one step ahead of his peers, said scheme proves to be much more difficult than Schwarzenegger and Co. first imagined, and Killam’s screenplay will no doubt have things getting out of hand sooner rather than later.
Lending financial support to the scribe’s feature debut is StarStream Media, attracting a roster of producers that includes Kim Leadford, Ash Sarohia, Steve Squillante and Killam himself. No studio is currently attached to Why We’re Killing Gunther, but the star power of Arnold Schwarzenegger ought to be enough to ensure an easy sale at the imminent Cannes Film Festival.
