2024 is turning out to be a fresh breath of year for films, as it appears, mainstream Hollywood might be once again leaning towards original releases. From Challengers to Civil War, we’ve witnessed some exciting original releases in the past few months, and Glen Powell’s new action comedy Hit Man is the new addition to this summer’s slate.
Sitting at a whopping 97% on the Tomatometer, the film has further added to Powell’s reputation as the next big thing in Hollywood, but making this film a reality was a bumpy ride for its creator.
Studios Weren’t Keen on Betting on an Original Idea
Since the rise of big-budget blockbusters, mainstream Hollywood has strayed away from investing in original ideas, as most execs prefer banking on familiar ideas. So when director Richard Linklater and his Fast Food Nation colleague Glen Powell, who co-wrote the Hit Man, decided to pitch the film to execs of various studios, the conversations didn’t go too well.
Considering it wasn’t based on familiar ideas or IP, the execs weren’t keen to greenlight the project despite Powell’s involvement, who is one of the most bankable actors right now, thanks to Top Gun 2.
Linklater told BBC:
You don’t get fired for doing a sequel or an origin story, something that already exists. 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.
After facing rejections from several studios, the duo decided to produce the film independently. and it wasn’t until its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival that Netflix acquired the film for $20M.
Richard Linklater Recalls Studios’ Condition for the Glen Powell-Led Film
When they initially pitched the idea, which is loosely inspired by the real-life story of Gary Johnson, the studio wanted a more traditional story that they could bet on. Instead of the premise of a fake hitman, the studios wanted it to be a real hitman, as it’d have been familiar with the stuff that had come before. Fortunately, Netflix was on board, especially after it was received greatly upon its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, which Powell and Linklater wrote without getting paid.
They wanted Ron to be a real hitman, something they’d seen before. Anyway, then we made the film, and it got a wonderful response. Netflix was always passionate about it, but the others kinda weren’t, I think they weren’t sure if they could sell it to an audience
But with blockbusters struggling to make their money back, we might finally once again see the rise of original stories, and hopefully, true ideas will once again become the norm moving forward.
Hit Man is available to stream on Netflix.
