Buddy sequel Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard hits theaters tomorrow, and while the reviews have been pretty disappointing across the board, that probably isn’t going to stop the second installment from doing decent business at the box office.
After all, people are hardly expecting a cinematic masterpiece, they just want to see big movie stars go on broad comedic adventures while throwing R-rated insults at each other, blowing sh*t up, mowing down reams of disposable henchmen and dropping one-liners as they do it. And if those are your expectations going in, Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard delivers and then some.
The theatrical industry might be struggling to regain any semblance of normality following the crushing lows of the COVID-19 era, but The Hitman’s Bodyguard was a sleeper hit in 2017 that ended up earning over $176 million globally on a budget reported to be around the $50 million, so it’s not as though analysts are pegging the sequel to fly too high. When the dust settles, it’ll have no doubt made a profit and we’ll be hearing about another adventure for Ryan Reynolds’ Michael Bryce, Samuel L. Jackson’s Darius Kincaid and Salma Hayek as his wife Sonia.
In fact, in a new interview, Hayek was asked about the potential for an additional madcap adventure involving the central trio, and it sounds as though the early plans are to increase it to a quartet.
“I hope so. If it happens, I know they’re adding one more person.”
Based on Hayek’s comments, the mind boggles as to what the marketing team are going to name this one. It’ll be a few months until we find out for sure whether it’s a go or not, but at this stage, the chances of seeing The Hitman’s Wife’s Brother’s Cousin Twice Removed’s Dog’s Bodyguard, or whatever it’ll be called, are pretty high.
