Lionsgate has boarded The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, Patrick Hughes’ sequel to his 2017 action comedy hit, and will release the film stateside. Millennium Media, who produced the first Hitman’s Bodyguard, produced, financed and are selling the sequel worldwide.
The Hitman’s Bodyguard grossed $75.5 million for Lionsgate in the U.S. and more than $180 million worldwide. Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek and Ryan Reynolds will reprise their roles as, the hitman, his wife and the bodyguard, respectively, in the new feature.
Hughes returns to the director’s chair for the sequel, directing from a script by Tom O’Connor, who also wrote the original film.
The new installment sees plans by bodyguard Michael Bryce (Reynolds) to swear off violence derailed when hitman Kincaid (Jackson) and his wife Sonia (Hayek) entangle him in their mission to wreak havoc along the Amalfi Coast in an attempt to save Europe.
Matt O’Toole and Les Weldon are producing for Millennium Media and Campbell Grobman Films with Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, Jeffrey Greenstein and Jonathan Yunger of Millennium and Lati Grobman and Christa Campbell of Campbell Grobman as executive producers.
Production on The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is slated to begin March 2 across Europe. Joe Drake, Jason Constantine and Eda Kowan from Lionsgate negotiated the domestic deal for the film with Lerner and Greenstein from Millennium.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the Murphy Brothers as the screenwriters on The Hitman’s Bodyguard’s Wife.
This story first appeared in The Hollywood Reporter’s Nov. 1 daily issue at the American Film Market.
