After a week of creative differences and some dilly-dallying,
Sylvester Stallone has finally convinced veteran director
Walter Hill (The Warriors, 48 Hrs) to helm his new actioner
Headshot. First announced
back in February, the genre movie will find Stallone as a New Orleans hitman compelled to team up with a young NYPD cop by a murder investigation that takes them all the way to the corridors of power in Washington DC. There's no word on who will play the NYPD cop just yet but old school action fans should rejoice that Stallone himself, probably on the back of The Expendables criticism, realises that his movies work better under someone elses direction. Stallone confirmed the hiring in an email to
AICN;
It's official. We've got Walter Hill on board so would love for you to let the world know. We've been on the same track since The Driver, then 48 Hrs didn't happen so here we are almost 35 years later, I'm finally driving with Walter Hill.
Wait, what? Stallone was up for parts in both
The Driver and
48 Hrs? Cool trivia. Hill replaces
Wayne Kramer (The Cooler) in the director's chair for the
Alessandro Camon (The Messenger) scripted thriller, Stallone explaining that;
Initially, Mr. Kramer was hired to direct a dark comedy; however his vision was much darker and exceptionally more violent than how the project was originally conceived. It was decided that it would be better for everyone to move on and consequently Mr. Kramer was dismissed by producers earlier this week. There were no volatile clashes, it was simply a professional parting of the ways.
So it's a lighter, black comedy about a hitman/cop taking down a wide-ranging conspiracy, starring Stallone, directed by frikkin' Walter Hill and written by the guy behind The Messenger? Sounds way cooler than an Expendables sequel, right? Filming should begin next month.