Production on Hitman, the newest film from Richard Linklater, has officially commenced. The film also features Retta, Austin Amelio, and Molly Bernard, who join previously announced cast members Glen Powell and Adria Arjona in the key roles. The action comedy has reportedly started production in New Orleans, according to Deadline. The film, based on a true story written for Texas Monthly by Skip Hollandsworth, follows Powell (as the most sought-after hitman in New Orleans) while he doubles as a police informant. But he runs into difficulty when he interrupts a mission to help a woman (Arjona) flee an abusive partner. He starts to develop feelings for her and begins to adopt the criminal lifestyle of one of his aliases.
The Jack Black movie Bernie, directed by Richard Linklater, was similarly inspired by an essay by Hollandsworth. Retta first gained widespread attention as Donna Meagle on Parks and Recreation, and she has since starred in Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce on Bravo and the recently cancelled NBC crime drama Good Girls. She is the current host of HGTV’s The Ugliest House in America. While Amelio is most recognised for his role as Dwight on The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, he also featured in Everybody Wants Some!!, which was directed by Linklater and starring Powell. Next up for Bernard is the murder mystery Best Man Dead Man, but before that she appeared in the Sutton Foster drama Younger and made guest appearances on Transparent and Chicago Med. Powell, who is a regular Linklater collaborator, starred in last summer’s mega-hit Top Gun: Maverick: He may next be seen in this fall’s Korean War thriller Devotion starring Jonathan Majors.
This year Arjona starred in four different projects: the vampire flop Morbius, Warner Brothers’ version of Father of the Bride, HBO’s Irma Vep, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars Andor. Her next film appearance will be in Pussy Island, the directing debut of Zo Kravitz. A Texas-based Dazed and Confused, the Before movies, and Boyhood are just a few of the many films that Linklater has directed. The movie he directed most recently, Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood, came out this year. The screenplay for Hitman was co-written by Linklater and Powell, and it will be produced by Linklater and Michael Blizzard of Detour Pictures, Michael Costigan and Jason Bateman of Aggregate Films, and Powell of Barnstorm Productions in cooperation with Cinetic Media. ShivHans Pictures and Monarch Media will be providing joint funding. ACG Studios will be in charge of distribution.
Production has begun on the new Hitman film.