As previously reported, Ryan Reynolds next film, The Hitman's Bodyguard, will continue in the action vein of Deadpool and see him trading quips with the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Elodie Yung and Gary Oldman. There's been a sudden change behind the camera, however, with original director Jeff Wadlow having to drop out due to a scheduling conflict. He's been replaced by The Expendables 3's Patrick Hughes.
Tom O'Connor's wrote the screenplay, which is in the Midnight Run mould of opposites forced to work together to survive while all manner of bad guys look to stop them. In this case, Reynolds is the world's best protection agent who is less than pleased to discover that his latest client is a hitman (Jackson) who has decided to come in from the cold and deliver evidence about his former employers. They've been at odds and in each other's sights through the years, but now they have to stick together and make it to the Hague in 24 hours so Jackson can testify against a murderous Eastern European dictator (Oldman). Will it be easy? Of course not!
Wadlow had been developing the film for years, but is currently in post-production on Netflix's Kevin James action comedy The True Memoirs Of An International Assassin. That's going to keep him occupied well into the spring, and Netflix apparently refused to release him early to go and play with Reynolds. The scramble for a new Hitman's Bodyguard director hasn't affected its schedule though, with the cameras - Hughes now behind them - still set to roll in April.
Shooting will take place in London, Amsterdam and Sofia for a likely release next year.