Every entertainment journalist under the sun, at this point, has indulged in the oh-so-clever wordplay that Richard Linklater and Glen Powell’s new Netflix movie, hitmanIt’s, well, a success, man.
However, according to Linklater in a recent Zoom interview with Jugo Mobile, none of the big Hollywood studios saw it that way when Linklater and Powell went out on the town to present their film. Directed by Linklater, who co-wrote the script with Powell, the film is based on a2001Texas monthlyarticleof the same name by Skip Hollandsworth, which details the life of Gary Johnson (played by Powell in the film), an undercover cop who posed as a fake hitman to help convict criminals in murder-for-hire cases. Linklater and Powell took the liberty of going far beyond the facts, imagining what could happen if one of Gary struck up an affair with one of his clients (Adria Arjona) while he posed as a hitman.
It’s a fun, playful, fast-paced comedy that still comes with that signature esoteric, Linklater-esque philosophy. And it stars one of the most attractive protagonists in Hollywood at the moment. What studio wouldn’t want that?
“None of them!” Linklater responded cheerfully when I asked him that same question via Zoom during a press conference Monday night.
When asked why he thought that, Linklater responded: “I don’t know. Everyone is scared.[The movie] It wasn’t just one thing. “It’s not a hitman movie.”
That said, he does remember “a conversation where they wanted it to be like a ‘real hitman movie.’ I was like, ‘No, the point is that he’s a fake hitman.’ People get really comfortable with something they’ve seen before. “This was a mix of things they hadn’t seen.” He added that Powell’s star power wasn’t exactly what it was today, when they were releasing the movie. “I think if it were today, with Glen having been in a few more movies that did well, maybe it would be different.”
And yet, the director said, even after the film was finished and premiered at the Venice International Film Festival last fall to rave reviews, Linklater still had trouble selling his film. “That’s probably the most telling thing about our industry,” he said. “As a finished film, showing it to a very appreciative audience and a good critical response, they still didn’t want it! That is a topic of study that I cannot talk about.”
Ultimately, Netflix acquired hitman in an estimate $20 million deal outside the Toronto Film Festival, a few weeks after the Venice premiere. Netflix agreed to a two-week theatrical release ahead of the film’s streaming release tomorrow, June 7.
“Every movie is difficult to get off the ground,” Linklater concluded. “Studios, in general, are no longer looking for adult dramas as much, or even comedies. We know what world we live in. They have changed a lot. Then I do not know. We were lucky to make it.”
hitman will begin broadcasting on Netflix June 7th.
