What do you get when you put Wade Wilson and Nick Fury (or at least the guys who play them) in a movie together? In the case of The Hitman's Bodyguard, you get a buddy movie that capitalizes on the comedy and action chops of Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson. The film proved itself as an unexpected success when it debuted on the tail end of last summer, and now it looks like Lionsgate intends to return to that universe with a sequel called The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard.
Though details remain sparse at this point, it looks like a sequel to The Hitman's Bodyguard is definitely in development. According to the announcement made at the Cannes Film Festival, the sequel will be called The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, and a script is currently in development. Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds are not confirmed to return to their respective roles, but it would make plenty of sense to see them come back, considering the first film's open-ended conclusion that paved the way for a buddy movie franchise. Moreover, the title of the sequel seemingly suggests that the follow-up will focus more heavily on Salma Hayek's Sonia Kincaid (the wife of Jackson's Darius Kincaid), so it seems logical that many of the original players could return.
Of course, we will have to wait and see what other characters get introduced into the equation. The title seemingly implies that Sonia Kincaid will get a bodyguard, but it doesn't confirm if that bodyguard will be Ryan Reynolds' smartass bodyguard Michael Bryce or an entirely new character. If it is Bryce, then we can reasonably expect to see more of the same good cop bad cop antics that made the first film resonate with audiences. Per the THR report about the sequel, The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard has been described as "The Good. The Bad. And the Batshit cray," so it sounds like pretty much anything is possible and all bets are off this time around.
It's arguably not that surprising to learn that there are plans for a sequel to The Hitman's Bodyguard. Despite not taking inspiration from any known source material or franchise property, the original did some great work at the box office when it debuted in August 2017 and dominated number one spot for three consecutive weeks. In fact, it made $177 million worldwide against a relatively-lean $30 million budget, so diving back into that creative well makes a certain degree of sense.
CinemaBlend will bring you more information related to The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard as more details about the film are made available to us. The sequel to The Hitman's Bodyguard does not have a set release date yet, but for now, you can check out our 2018 movie premiere guide to keep yourself in-the-loop on all this year's films that currently do.
