Like every year, FILMSTARTS was of course present at the Venice Film Festival in 2023 – and was able to attend the world premiere of “The Killer”. The new thriller highlight from ‘Sieben’ and ‘Fight Club’ maker David Fincher was already a big talking point in advance, is one of the potential highlights of the year for many film fans and, in our opinion, could absolutely live up to the high expectations (4 .5 stars in the FILMSTARTS review). The situation is slightly different with ‘Hit Man’ by Richard Linklater, which Netflix has now (also) picked up:
The maker of ‘Boyhood’ wasn’t just unlucky enough to have his film premiere shortly after ‘The Killer’, which at least at first glance was similar and downright excellent. Even experts in Venice felt the same way as many readers of this article: they had never heard of “Hit Man” until then! The reactions were all the more euphoric:
While the film caused even more excitement in Venice than the new Fincher in Venice, there was also in the FILMSTARTS review strong 4 out of 5 possible stars. And with 98 percent positive reviews as well as 82 out of 100 points (As of September 19, 2023) ‘Hit Man’ is already one of the highest-rated films of the year.
Netflix recognized the film’s potential — and struck immediately: The streaming provider has now secured the rights to “Hit Man” in a $20 million recording deal.
How First reported, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) resulted in the biggest deal of the year so far, including the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, Iceland, Hong Kong, South Korea and several other Asian countries. Mike Fleming Jr. by I also heard that a theatrical release was also planned. Since Germany is not initially among the countries for which Netflix has secured the rights, “Hit Man” could eventually get a regular theatrical release in this country. There are no officially confirmed details yet…
…in complete contrast to “The Killer”: from October 26, 2023, the thriller will be shown in selected cinemas across Germany, before coming to Netflix on November 10.
This is what awaits you in “Hit Man”
Gary Johnson (Glen Powell, “Top Gun: Maverick”) teaches psychology. But the professor also works for the police – in a very special role. Because he poses as a professional murderer to the authorities to convict people who want to order murder. But when the desperate Madison (Adria Arjona, “Star Wars: Andor”) sits in front of him one day, he throws his professionalism overboard.
Madison is being abused by her husband and wants to neutralize him once and for all. Rather than let her serve her murder order and ultimately have her arrested, Gary decides to help the young woman get away from her husband. But events come to a head when he begins encountering Madison again under his fake killer alter ego…