Ryan Reynolds And Samuel L. Jackson Confirmed For Sequel To 'The Hitman's Bodyguard'

You have to give it to Hollywood producers, they never seem to be short of ideas. Even when the well seems to run a bit dry, they always pull something out of the bag when they need a hit film.

But what's their secret? Sequels - surprise.

Someone in 'la la land' just looks at the most successful films from the last five years and adds '2' to the title - and there you have it, instant hit.

So it should come as no surprise that they've done it again, with the official announcement of a sequel to crime caper The Hitman's Bodyguard, which has a working title of The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard. Inspired.

News of the film first leaked at this year's Cannes Film Festival, described in the festival's official market catalog as: "The Good. The Bad. And the Batshit cray."

But it's now been confirmed that the sequel will see a return for the main cast - Ryan Reynolds of Deadpool fame, Samuel L. Jackson from Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and... well, basically any Avengers -related film, and Salma Hayek, who's also got form, having starred in the Grown Ups franchise.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the new film will apparently see Reynolds reprise the role of bodyguard Michael Bryce, dragged back into a life of violence when hitman Kincaid (Jackson) and his wife Sonia (Hayek) pull him into their bid to wreak havoc along the Amalfi Coast.

Ok so it doesn't exactly sound like Citizen Kane, but what were you expecting? When the first film rakes in more than $250 million I think the strength of the plot tends to go out the window for a follow-up outing.

If you're unfamiliar with the story though, let's take a trip down memory lane and have a look at what happened during the first outing.

Lionsgate Films

When we meet Reynolds' character, he's a down-on-his-luck bodyguard, who fell from the very highest echelons of the security game - triple A rating - after a botched job, and has become a laughing stock.

Then, wouldn't you know it, he somehow gets hired to lead a security detail to protect his arch nemesis - Jackson's Darius Kincaid, who is the reason for Reynolds' recent misfortune - on his journey from Manchester to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, so he can testify against an even bigger baddie, Vladislav Dukhovich, played by Gary Oldman.

All of this while dodgy coppers are hell bent on killing the pair of them.

SPOILER ALERT - they make it to the Hague.

Topics: TV and Film, News, US Entertainment, Films

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

@SmithersDom