Frank Grillo might be the next megastar, as unlikely as you might think it sounds. The actor features in “Wolf Warriors 2,” which has become the biggest blockbuster at the Chinese box office ever. Meanwhile, he leads the upcoming sci-fi spinoff “Beyond Skyline,” and this fall, he buckles up for Netflix‘s “Wheelman.” The actor has his fingers in a lot of different pies, and the first taste of the latter movie has landed.
Written and directed by Jeremy Rush, “Wheelman” is a lean and mena thriller, which follows a getaway driver who is thrust into a high stakes race-to-survive after a bank robbery goes terribly wrong. With a car full of money and his family on the line, the clock is ticking to figure out who double-crossed him, and the only person he can trust is his fourteen-year-old daughter.
Adding some spark to the proceedings are the producer powers of Joe Carnahan, who compares the movie to some of the great ’70s, car-oriented pictures.
“What appealed to me about ‘Wheelman’ was its brutal simplicity and the fact that it was a father-daughter story, disguised as an action film. There was and remains a very 70’s sensibility about the movie. It has it roots in films like ‘Vanishing Point,’ ‘Bullitt,’ and ‘The Driver.’ There was a parsed down, spare, lean quality to the writing that reminded me of a Jim Thompson or Donald E. Westlake novel,” he told Collider.
“Wheelman” will shift into gear on Netflix on October 20th.