All fans needed to hear was that Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson were teaming up for an R-rated action comedy and they were instantly on board for The Hitman’s Bodyguard, although it would be fair to say the movie never maximized the potential of the premise. Unsurprisingly, the chemistry between the leading duo stops the entire thing from sinking, with the plot about as standard and predictable as the subgenre can get, while the visual effects were frequently terrible even for a mid-budget pic.
However, it managed to rake in close to $180 million at the box office against production costs of just $30 million, so it was hardly a surprise when sequel The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard was announced in May 2018. Shooting wrapped almost two years ago, but the release date was pushed back twelve months as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, with the second installment scheduled to arrive this August.
The first image from The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard has now been revealed, showing the two stars clearly caught up in a serious spot of trouble alongside a returning Salma Hayek and new addition Antonio Banderas, which you can check out below.
As you may have inferred from the title, the follow-up finds Reynolds’ former CIA agent forced to reluctantly team up once again with Jackson’s legendary assassin on a rescue mission when the latter’s wife is kidnapped by shady figures from her past. The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard has doubled down on both veteran action stars and serious gravitas, too, with Banderas joined by Frank Grillo, Richard E. Grant and Morgan Freeman in the ensemble, while The Expendables 3‘s Patrick Hughes returns behind the camera.