Richard Linklater has just closed a massive deal with Netflix, so now he has even more money to fund a few decades on the set of his next movie which will no doubt be a series of long conversations for several hours.
Linklater’s latest film Hit Man was a hit (get it?!) at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival after debuting earlier this year in Venice. The director closed a $20 million deal with Netflix to debut the comedic thriller, which might even include a theatrical release. No date has been set yet.
The film stars Top Gun Maverick’s Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, a philosophy professor who moonlights as a police surveillance tech. On a short-staffed night, Johnson ends up covering for and impersonating an undercover hitman, and after he realizes he’s actually pretty good at this “hitman” gig, he begins to lean into the role, as every philosopher would do. The movie also stars Andor’s Adria Arjona, Parks and Recreation’s Retta, and Austin Amelio.
This will be Linklater’s second film to debut on the streamer, behind 2022’s animated adventure Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood, which also starred Powell. Who would have thought that the guy who played “Long Fingered Boy” in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over would have such a promising career?
