Netflix lands Richard Linklater's Hit Man for $20mn after TIFF triumph

In a significant post-Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) move, Netflix has acquired the rights to Hit Man, a film co-written by acclaimed director Richard Linklater and starring Glen Powell, for a staggering $20 million. The movie, which made waves at TIFF, offers a unique take on the hit-man genre.

Hit Man features Glen Powell, known for his role in Top Gun: Maverick, as a psychology professor in New Orleans who leads a double life. By day, he's an unassuming academic, but by night, he works undercover as a hit man, collaborating with law enforcement to apprehend potential murderers in sting operations. The film's intriguing premise, combined with Powell's compelling performance, undoubtedly contributed to its success at TIFF.

Hit Man has received highly positive reviews, with a 98 per cent rating on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

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While Netflix's acquisition of Hit Man is generating considerable buzz, the streaming giant has not yet revealed its release plans for the film. Italso has Adria Arjona taking on the role of a wife determined to have her husband eliminated. The film draws inspiration from a true story documented in a 2001 Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth, which chronicled the exploits of a faux hitman named Gary Johnson.

Richard Linklater speaks about Hit Man

In a recent interview during TIFF, Richard Linklater, renowned for his work on Boyhood, shed light on the unconventional approach taken to bring Hit Man to fruition. Linklater and Powell decided to produce the film independently before pursuing a distribution deal, a decision made to circumvent some of the challenges commonly faced in today's Hollywood.

Linklater explained, "It used to be the head of a studio would sit down with you, talk, maybe say, 'I think you've got the movie in you. Let's do it.' Now, they don't even want to hear from you. You're up against algorithms and marketing in advance. So it was kind of great to go: 'Let's just make the movie and bet on ourselves.'"

This unconventional approach has paid off, especially in the current film market, which has been affected by ongoing strikes within the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA). With potential disruptions in film pipelines, studios and streaming platforms are increasingly interested in acquiring finished films.

However, the acquisition of Hit Man stands out as one of the most substantial deals of the season. This isn't the first collaboration between Netflix and Linklater, as the streaming giant previously distributed Apollo 10 1/2. Furthermore, Netflix recently acquired Anna Kendrick's directorial debut, Woman of the Hour, after its successful premiere at TIFF.

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