Richard Linklater says Hollywood is scared to make movies like ‘Hit Man’
“Hit Man” is the kind of movie that 25 years ago could have made $200 million at the box office on a budget of two percent of that. Now, Richard Linklater and Glen Powell’s romantic thriller-comedy is going straight to Netflix after traditional studios balked at giving it a theatrical release.
In an interview with the BBC, Linklater attributes that change to studios being afraid to take even small risks on adult-oriented dramas.
“You don’t get fired for doing a sequel or an origin story, something that already exists,” the Oscar-nominated “Boyhood” director said. “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.”
The film, which was written by Linklater and Powell and based on a Texas Monthly article, tells the story of a police consultant (Powell) who poses as a hitman to help arrest people in murder-for-hire plots. In character as the hitman, he starts a relationship with a woman (Adria Arjona) who “hires” him to kill her abusive husband.
Linklater and Powell wanted to make a sexy, carnal movie about desire for grown-up audiences that’s driven by the chemistry between the two leads. But they found out how hard it is to get a movie like that made now, as “adult” movies with emotionally complex situations are “out of fashion” in Hollywood, he said.
“The industry really didn’t want to make the film initially,” Linklater said. “Among the frustrating conversations we had with studios and people like that was they wanted Ron [the name of the fake hitman persona] 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.”
In a Hollywood Reporter profile last month, Powell said that he wants a career like Tom Cruise’s, but Cruise followed a path to stardom that doesn’t really exist for actors of Powell’s generation. Powell has avoided the superhero franchises that have made his peers famous, but not movie stars, which is what Powell wants to be.
“No one who’s worked with Glen would doubt he’s a star,” said Linklater, who has known Powell since he cast him in 2006’s “Fast Food Nation” when he was a teenager. “The same movie industry that’s not showing sex also doesn’t have those adult breakout roles they used to that would introduce a new talent.
“It’s hard to do that out of Marvel-type movies as it’s a pre-established character within a comic-book world,” Linklater said. “Glen’s been really old school, he’s done some wonderful roles in supporting parts, but the roles just have to evolve and there’s just less.”
“Hit Man” is available to stream on Netflix now.
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