The Hit Man press tour is haunted by the question: Why didn’t anyone want Hit Man?
Despite glowing reviews, Richard Linklater and Glen Powell had a lot of trouble selling their comedy Hit Man
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On June 7, Netflix will begin streaming Hit Man, the critically acclaimed dark romantic comedy about a police mole posing as a murderer for hire co-written by Richard Linklater and Glen Powell. This is a movie that has everything going for it: an established, respected director in Linklater, a likable (and, more recently, bankable) lead actor in Powell, a central couple with a ton of chemistry thanks to co-lead Adria Arjona, and glowing reviews that have continued to pile up since the film first premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. In years gone by, this would be an undeniable mid-level hit with a long and successful theatrical run. Instead, the movie was relegated to streaming, and Linklater has spent much of the time dedicated to promoting the movie grappling with the fact that none of the traditional studios wanted to make or distribute the movie.
This disconnect began in the production stage, as Linklater recently told the BBC that “the industry really didn’t want to make the film initially.” When pitching the film, he sensed that studios wanted the movie to be “just one thing.” He recalled “frustrating” conversations with the studios, including the note that “they wanted Ron to be a real hitman, something they’d seen before.” Without studio support, they ended up making the film “very independently,” Linklater told the BBC, adding in an interview with Texas Monthly that making the movie cost “A little over ten, eleven million, something like that.”
Netflix ultimately acquired the film for $20 million out of the Toronto Film Festival. “The studios could have had it, but despite the overwhelming audience and critical response, they just acted like they weren’t totally convinced,” Linklater shared with Texas Monthly. “It’s a weird time in our industry—not as good as it once was, put it like that. Netflix was the company that stepped up with the right attitude, like, ‘Hey, we love this film, and we want to make sure everybody sees it.’ They made it an easy choice for us.” To Decider, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker admitted he didn’t know why none of the traditional studios were interested: “Everybody’s scared,” he said. The film getting rejected even after being so well received at Venice is “the more telling thing about our industry, probably,” he added. “As a finished film, showing it to very appreciative audiences, and a nice critical response—they still didn’t want it! That’s a studio issue that I can’t speak to.”
He does have theories as to why the studios were so turned off, one of them being that crucial issue that the film wasn’t “just one thing.” (Why were the studios so confused about Ron being a fake hit man?) Another theory is that Powell’s power as a leading man hadn’t been established yet, particularly when they were pitching: ”I think if it was today, with Glen having been in a few more movies that did well, maybe it’d be different,” Linklater told Decider. In his BBC interview, Linklater speculated that the depiction of adult sexuality might have turned studios away. The entertainment industry used to invest in adult movies, not just in the sense of sex but also in the everyday complications of adult life. “But somewhere along the way Hollywood inverted that,” Linklater observed. “It’s like they said, ‘we’re going to make films where you can stay 13 forever, you stay that little kid with little kid concerns’, so I guess it drifted away as its complexities weren’t the subject matter of mainstream cinema as it had been before.”
Though Linklater has given Netflix plenty of credit for seeing the potential of Hit Man, there’s no doubt that the brain trust behind the movie must be disappointed that it won’t be seen widely in theaters. Powell—who will take the cinemas by storm later this summer with Twisters—noted in one of his many profiles that they took a gamble bringing his rom-com Anyone But You to theaters, figuring that “If we make this on a streamer, it won’t have any cultural impact.” That’s a grim fate to consider for an old-school crowd-pleaser like Hit Man, and it’s clear Linklater would’ve liked a bigger theatrical window for the movie. “ I think every single filmmaker whose film goes to Netflix has that conversation with them” about putting the movie in more theaters for longer, Linklater said to Texas Monthly. “You know, I have hopes that people will see Hit Man in theaters. But I also know that by the time a lot of them hear about the movie, it will be out of theaters.”
This is the plight of an original, small-scale comedy in a Hollywood that’s foaming at the mouth for “established IP.” “You don’t get fired for doing a sequel or an origin story, something that already exists,” Linklater said to the BBC. “You don’t get in trouble for what’s obvious and commercial. What changed is that films got greenlit by the marketing department and then it’s become really safe choices.”
30 Comments
(Why were the studios so confused about Ron being a fake hit man?)Because studio executives have the IQ of oatmeal?
It’s Powell’s disconcerting head-to-face ratio, isn’t it?
Are you and I the only two who notice that? I’m having flashbacks to Channing Tatum coming on the scene.
That the proportions of his face are offensive? Let’s start with his eyes being too close together
Like, qualitatively, and separately, his face and head are fine. Handsome.But put ‘em together…it’s like 13″ rims on an SUV.
Well, now I can’t unsee that. He looks like one of those rear-projection animatronics that Disney tried and then abandoned.
I was gonna ask for more information but then figured I’d google it. https://allears.net/2020/03/30/taking-a-look-back-at-the-history-of-animatronics-in-the-disney-parks/If anyone else is curious. Interesting stuff. I did however give up on trying to find a video of it in action. If anyone has one. I wonder if an LED mask might work better. like the vegas sphere on a much smaller scale.
Yeah, those exist now. A friend had one last Halloween. The pixel resolution was awfully low, but I can see how in a few years they might become the standard kind of mask — you can reuse it again and again because you can send different faces to it and even do animations.
Well that settles it. Next Halloween I’m going as a specific episode of Fraiser.
I want it to get to the point where it can defeat facial recognition. You know, without having to resort to:
I swear to unholy christ that those two…things…in your picture aren’t Disney, they’re minibosses from a Bioshock game.
Can you list any Hollywood faces that are MORE punchable than Glen Powell’s?
Personally, I find Agent 47 with hair off-putting. Also, the movie’s title is spelled wrong, leading people to believe that it’s not a video game adaptation at all.
I agree that the major movie studios aren’t interested in distributing movies that won’t create huge profits. There’s a hole in the market that needs to be filled. You’d think A24 was that hole, but they aren’t indie anymore.
I think that hole is unfortunately being filled by Netflix and their constant barrage of content, any content. That then falls off the front page after a couple of weeks and is doomed to the wastelands…
well, the pitch would’ve gone better if the movie included a talking pie for some reason
I am of the opinion that every movie would be made better by including exactly one (1) idea from an out of touch studio exec.
The Godfather should have a comic relief side character with a funny accent and fake teeth. 2001: A Space Odyssey should have a scene where HAL is defeated by a celebrity basketball player scoring a zero-G three pointer, hitting a large button marked “A.I. OFF”
Etc.
Even “sure thing” movies like Furiosa are tanking now, so I assume movie studios are passing on a shitload more than they used to. Companies went ahead and got us all trained to wait two weeks for streaming, and haven’t presented a good reason not to do so outside of “going out to the movies is a tradition!” yet.
I am here to once again assert that Furiosa was not a sure thing. Fury Road wasn’t the box office hit some people remember it being. But I agree with everything else.
We’re at a time when Garfield being projected to make $200 million dollars in lifelong box office is getting it called an “unexpected hit” because they made it for the cost of a mid-level indie film.Is Glen Powell the guy you want to sell a movie on? Don’t know. But Anyone But You also made 200 million, which is also a successful box office for a mid-level indie film.If Glen Powell is pulling down mid-level indie film money when paired with Sydney Sweeney, then studios will throw that onto a streamer and move on with their lives happy that they got him instead of Scott Eastwood.Point is, people are talking about movies that get streamer views as if the theaters should be full of them. But movies stopped doing that pre-covid, so they’re winding up exactly where people expect them to be.
…because the hit movie that established its star’s box-office draw hadn’t come out yet? Did that answer get suggested by anyone “haunted” on the press tour by this question?
It was in the article.
Having just watched it, i can understand why studios passed on it. The ending doesn’t connect with the rest of the movie. The tonal and moral shift is so jarring. Leaves a bitter taste after all that sweetnees that came before.
I agree with your note about the ending. I loved everything about the movie, but I did feel the ending could have used one more twist that didn’t feel as morally dubious. Perhaps if he had been secretly wired during the other cops confession, or if she got off the hook because the killing was justified or even if she had to do some time, but as it was it seemed random and a bit of a downer, though that wasn’t what they were going for. I spent the entire ride home thinking of 3 better endings that would have made me happier.
There’s a great discussion about this on NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour. The tonal shift just kills the movie.
Hard disagree on the tonal shift killing the movie. The whole movie is about making dramatic changes… why wouldn’t the movie itself make a dramatic change and/or departure from what you’d expect?But you’re right. Not having a cookie cutter, moralistic ending is likely a large reason why studio’s passed.
I agree. I watched Hitman on Saturday and I enjoyed the movie up until the end which I found bizarre. I think more plot was needed to get to that as an end logically. Glen Powell was charming and so fun to watch as he did different characters for each hit man. I also love the premise! I do think this movie is worth watching even though I didn’t connect with the ending.
There’s two types of actors 1. People who feel obligated to share a stories with the world and 2. people who want others to recognize how amazing they are. Powell’s recent Tom Cruise coat tail hugging is pretty telling that he’s camp 2. But this dude just seems like the definition of mid
Stop trying to make Glen Powell happen
I honestly thought this released on netflix last year …Turns out that was The Killer , and Hit-man is a different thing.