Actor Glenn Powell, best known for his work with Richard Linklater, is quickly putting together quite the film career as the show is winding down. He plays a hot-shot pilot in Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” which is getting a lot of early buzz ahead of its May 27 release, and he’s sticking to military roles for the Korean War action-drama “Devotion” that also has Jonathan Majors (“Lovecraft Country“) leading it.
Now, Powell is teaming up, well guess who, his buddy filmmaker Linklater (“Boyhood“) again to play a Texas cop in “Hitman,” according to a report from Variety. “Hitman” is yet another high-profile film project heating up the Cannes Market with AGC International, CAA Media Finance, and Cinetic handling sales.
The action-comedy will see Powell and Linklater co-write the script with the “Maverick” actor set to play a Houston cop who’s been working undercover as the most in-demand hitman in Houston until one day he breaks protocol to help a desperate woman trying to escape an abusive boyfriend.
Powell’s collaboration with Linklater goes back a few years now. He’s appeared in “Fast Food Nation,” “Everybody Wants Some!!” and most recently, “Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood.“
Actress Adria Arjona (“Father of The Bride“) is set to play the woman Powell’s cop attempts to help. She has previously dipped her toes into the world of franchises with roles in the upcoming “Star Wars” series “Andor” led by Diego Luna, Jared Leto‘s Marvel horror flick “Morbius,” and had a supporting role in Legendary‘s “Pacific Rim: Uprising.”
The new project is based on a 2001 article that was published in Texas Monthly that tells the fascinating story of hitman Gary Johnson, an investigator at the Harris Country district attorney’s office, that takes on the role of a hitman for Texas police requiring the help of an undercover officer to catch folks ordering a hit before that action can be executed. Henry Winkler‘s upcoming true-crime series at HBO, “King Rex,“ is also based on a Texas Monthly piece and seems like more projects will be coming based on past crime stories.
Linklater is a busy bee as he’s working on two different biopics, about con artist John Brinkley and anti-corporate comedian Bill Hicks.
Filming on “Hitman” is said to begin this October and, depending on how lengthy post-production takes, could be ready for release/festival circuit in 2023.
