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The most romantic season of the year is finally here and as the temperature cools down, Netflix has the perfect way to bring the heat. We are talking about its collection of spicy romantic comedy movies featuring salacious scenes and a lot of hilarious comedy. So, here are the best R-rated romantic comedy movies on Netflix you should check out right now.

Plus One Credit – Rlje Films

Plus One is a romantic comedy film written and directed by Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer. The 2019 film follows Ben King and Alice Mori, who have been friends since college and now that everybody around them is getting married they make a pact to attend the weddings together instead of being alone. Soon they start falling for each other but their wildly different personalities get in the way. Plus One stars...

Summer is here, which means you might have some extra time on your hands. Why not watch a great movie? Ah, but finding the right movie to watch on streaming can be a chore. Not to worry, we’ve put together a curated list of some of the best new movies streaming in June — from monster mashes to Oscar contenders to underrated gems that hit theaters earlier this year and are making their streaming debut. Platforms spans Netflix, Prime Video, Max, Hulu and more — there’s a little something for everyone, and we’ve also thrown in some new library titles to put on your watchlist as well.

Check out our picks for the best new movies streaming in June 2024 below.

“Godzilla Minus One” Godzilla Minus One (Credit: Toho Studios)

Netflix – June 1

Yes. “Godzilla Minus One” is finally streaming. Our long national nightmare is finally over. The movie, which is...

Stars: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta, Sanjay Rao, Molly Bernard, Evan Holtzman, Gralen Bryant Banks | Written by Richard Linklater, Glen Powell | Directed by Richard Linklater

Based on Skip Hollandsworth’s 2001 article written for Texas Monthly magazine (which is still available to read online), Hit Man is a “somewhat true story” inspired by the life of Gary Johnson. The film introduces audiences to Johnson (Glen Powell) as a university professor teaching his class about how life is worth taking risks, something he does not put into practice in his stationary life.

Working part-time with the New Orleans Police Department, Johnson moonlights as a fake hitman for the purposes of police stings. Under the guise of the suave Ron, Gary meets with Madison (Adria Arjona), a potential client who wishes to escape her abusive husband. The professor breaks protocol to help the woman make a new start instead, and finds himself falling for her.

This article contains spoilers for "Hit Man."

Netflix acquired Richard Linklater's comedy "Hit Man" out of its screening at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and the choice seems to have paid off for them. /Film has been a little more down on the movie than most (read our review here), but "Hit Man" soon hit #1 on Netflix's streaming charts after its June 7 debut on the platform. The streamer is probably feeling pretty good now after many other studios passed up the chance to shepherd "Hit Man" to completion.

"Hit Man" is loosely based on a true story, first told in a 2001 Texas Monthly article written by Skip Hollandsworth about Gary Johnson, a Houston community college professor who had a movie-worthy side-gig; he played the part of a professional assassin during police sting operations. "Hit Man" (which moves its story to Louisiana) stars Glen Powell as Gary, portrayed as a...

One of the most talked-about action flicks of this year, Richard Linklater’s Hit Man, deserves all the hype it’s getting. Loosely based on a 2001 article by Skip Hollandsworth, the film is about Gary Johnson, a Texas man who was famous for his undercover persona as a fake hitman. Linklater’s latest movie proves that he’s much more than the Before trilogy, and this movie is also a wake-up call for Hollywood in many ways. It’s not necessary to play it safe when you’ve got a solid script on your hands, and that’s what makes a movie click with the audience. In this article, we’re talking about the ensemble cast and the characters they play in this Netflix movie.

Spoilers Ahead

Glen Powell as Gary

After starring in Top Gun: Maverick and recently in a rom-com with Sydney Sweeney, Powell continues his glorious run...

This article contains multitudes of Hit Man spoilers.

The words “true story” are always a curious thing to see at the beginning of a film. Sometimes the term is applied to sober-eyed dramas that seek to convince you they’re nearly documentaries. Think of your Spotlights and All the President’s Mens. More often than not though, the phrase is used as a marketing gimmick for stories where the word “truth” is an abstraction. Think Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Which is what makes another Texan director’s latest indie effort, the beguiling Hit Man now on Netflix, so amusingly slippery. Richard Linklater and Glen Powell’s comedy is indeed based on a “true story,” as they promise at the start. And during the end credits, the film has the photographs to prove it: Gary Johnson was a real man who helped assist in the conviction of dozens of...

I feel that understanding human beings is one of the most underrated art forms. Well, suppose I walk into an interview and tell someone that I understand people. They are just going to look at me and throw me out of the window. And I am not even talking about statistics to understand what a group of people like American Presidents do. I am talking about individuals: their actions, their choice of words, their gestures. Well, you can read even this in Travis Bickle’s voice or Patrick Bateman’s, because that’s how most psychopathic hitmen or serial killers define their prey. I feel we all have a “Ron” inside of us, and we all want to be a cooler version of ourselves, yet most of us, including Hit Man‘s Gary Johnson, have better control over that “alter ego.”

So our not-so-cool psychology teacher from New Orleans, Gary Johnson,...

Whenever you think about a hitman, there is a very specific image that is created in your mind, and we saw that Gary was the complete opposite of it. He was working for the Da’s office, but he was a very shy and timid guy. If one saw Gary teaching in his philosophy class, they would say that he couldn’t even lift a finger, and that’s why nobody could imagine that he could be convincing as a hitman. Gary’s colleagues, especially Jasper, believed that the man didn’t have it in him, as he didn’t seem ruthless, he didn’t have a confident demeanor, and most of all, he lacked the conviction that was the basic requirement for the job. But what Jasper didn’t know was that Gary was an exceptional actor, and he could blend in the role so well that nobody could...

Hit Man, directed by Richard Linklater, is inspired by an article written by Skip Hollandsworth, in which he documents the fascinating life of an undercover agent named Gary Johnson. The plan of the Houston County District Attorney was quite simple: they couldn’t arrest people just for thinking about committing a crime, so they made sure that they acted on it. While pretending to be a professional hitman Gary met these potential criminals, and more than often, these people told him bluntly what they wanted. The moment a person gave money, it became easy for the prosecution to prove in court that there was actus rea on their part. Though the film is inspired by true events, there were things that were dramatized, and the makers took creative liberties. The character of Madison “Maddy” Masters, who came to Johnson to get rid of her husband, can be said to be...

The glitz and charm of Richard Linklater’s Hit Man might distract you from something about Gary Johnson, Glen Powell’s character with a chameleon-like repertoire of personalities. There’s an odd darkness to this fascinating guy. And that might be the only attribute of the man we get to know in Hit Man that is not quite true of the real Gary Johnson. That’s right. Powell’s character in the film he co-wrote with Linklater is created in the mold of a very real professor-turned-hitman, Gary Johnson. The Gary in Hit Man shuffles personalities like a deck of cards and always knows which one to pick for the client he’s about to trick into conviction. It all works out fine between his life as a professor and an undercover mole for law enforcement until Gary falls in love with one of his clients. In case you want...

Glen Powell and Adria Arjona in Hit ManImage: Netflix

Hit Man, the twenty-third feature film from Lone Star State cinematic maverick Richard Linklater, is the second to be based on reporting that originally appeared in Texas Monthly. The first, Bernie mined from a 1998 article by journalist Skip Hollandsworth (co-writer of...

Jack Black in Bernie Photo: Castle Rock Entertainment/Kobal/Shutterstock At the end of an experimental decade, director Richard Linklater returned to a story that had been rattling around his brain since the ‘90s. Written by Skip Hollandsworth for Texas Monthly, the 1998 article “Midnight In The Garden Of East Texas” follows a mortician,...

Jack Black in Bernie

Photo: Castle Rock Entertainment/Kobal/Shutterstock

At the end of an experimental decade, director Richard Linklater returned to a story that had been rattling around his brain since the ‘90s. Written by Skip Hollandsworth for Texas Monthly, the 1998 article “Midnight In The Garden Of East Texas” follows a mortician,...

Flip through the pages of (or, because it’s 2024, click on) the October 2001 issue of Texas Monthly, and you’ll find an article by Skip Hollandsworth about a Houston man named Gary Johnson. He is described as being in his mid-fifties, “tall but not too tall, thin but not too thin…[who] sometimes wears wire-rimmed glasses that give him a scholarly appearance.” Gary teaches a few classes at a local junior college. Mostly, however, he pretends to be a professional killer for the police department when they want to set up...

A sexy comedy featuring man-of-the-moment Glen Powell posing as an undercover hitman, Jessica Alba kicking ass in an all-action revenge tale, the inimitable David Letterman interviewing a new round of guests, the continuing saga of Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton, the return of a beloved fantasy series and the story of the most iconic franchise in cheerleading are among the standout new additions to Netflix in June.

Returning in June on Netflix is the third season of the fantasy series Sweet Tooth. Based on the beloved comic book series created by Jeff Lemire, the show tells the story of society after it has been decimated by a virus and human-animal hybrids begin to appear. The focus of the show is Gus, a young half-human, half-deer boy who is looking for his mother. Season one of Sweet Tooth debuted in June 2021, with season two arriving last June. The third season launches...

Glen Powell has captivated audiences’ attention with his notable projects in the film and television industry. Initially gaining prominence with the comedy-horror series Scream Queens, he gained critical acclaim in the action and rom-com genre. He is again garnering limelight with another interesting rom-com action project, Hit Man, released in limited theatres this Friday.

Adria Arjona and Glen Powell in Hit Man / Netflix

The actor got candid about the making of his new project, including the time when the industry kept on rejecting his movie.

Glen Powell Got Candid About the Issues He Faced in Hollywood While Working on Hit Man

Glen Powell, for anyone who doesn’t know, has contributed a lot in writing the screenplay with director Richard Linklater for Hitman. In a recent appearance with Collider Interviews, he expressed his thoughts on making the Hitman movie, reflecting on his writing journey in Hollywood.

Suggested“It actually got...

In the new Netflix film Hit Man, Glen Powell plays Gary Johnson, a mild-mannered college professor who has a mind for electronics. He occasionally helps out the local police department by recording sting operations on people trying to hire a hitman. When he’s forced into pretending to be one, he finds that he’s got quite a knack for it.

When he meets a young woman named Madison (Adria Arjona) who tries to hire his hit man alter ego, it sets up a series of events that will put lives in danger. Directed by Richard Linklater and written by Linklater and Powell, Hit Man is based on the Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth about a real-life person who had a similar double life.

Vital Thrills attended the virtual press conference for Hit Man and learned more about the film from Linklater, Powell, and Arjona, as well as Retta and Sanjay Rao,...

It’s taken a while for Glen Powell to truly step into the spotlight. After popping up in the likes of Hidden Figures, Set It Up and Everybody Wants Some!! (the last his first collaboration with Richard Linklater), it was 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick that saw him really take flight, giving an unforgettably hissable-yet-heroic performance as Lt Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin. Major turns have come since — box-office-busting romcom Anyone But You and another aviation adventure, Devotion — but it is with Hit Man that Powell announces himself as a movie star and a filmmaking force to be reckoned with.

Inspired by the true story of teacher-turned-pretend-assassin Gary Johnson (as reported by journalist Skip Hollandsworth in a 2001 article for Texas Monthly), Hit Man sees Powell re-team with Linklater, this time on a deeper creative level as co-writer. It takes the real-life nugget of Gary’s unusual side-hustle and expands it into a tale of murder,...

Director Richard Linklater rues that Hollywood has taken to creating sexless characters and superheroes without genitalia.

The writer/director of films including the Before trilogy and Boyhood is behind Netflix’s Hit Man, one of the standout successes at last year’s Venice Film Festival. Linklater calls the movie, starring Glen Powell and Adria Arjona, a “sexy crime thriller meets screwball comedy” and says the plot hinges on Arjanoa’s character Maddy being “the one he will risk everything for, just to sleep with her.”

Linklater told The Times of London: “Sex and violence is what cinema is great at. Sex was always the great seller; I don’t know why they backed off from that. Hollywood started feeding this new generation characters that were sexless. Superheroes don’t have sex. They don’t have genitalia, frankly.”

Hit Man follows Gary Johnson (Powell), a professor who moonlights as a fake...

Glen Powell remained the king of grassroots publicity at an Austin, Texas, screening of his new Netflix movie, Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man.” The leading man hit the red carpet at the event accompanied by his family, but his mother and father decided to troll their son with signs directed at the press line that read: “Stop trying to make Glen Powell happen” and “It’s never gonna happen.”

It appears Powell’s parents have been paying attention to all the press attention their son has been getting over the last few years. Every time Powell appears in a movie, be it Netflix’s “Set It Up” or Tom Cruise’s blockbuster “Top: Gun Maverick” or Sony’s rom-com “Anyone But You” with Sydney Sweeney, the press can’t help but say he’s got bona fide star power and is the next big thing. The “Hit Man” reviews also...

Netflix on Thursday dropped a new trailer for the new Richard Linklater-directed feature “Hit Man,” co-written by and starring Glen Powell. Linklater and Skip Hollandsworth – the journalist upon whose Texas Monthly article the film – also contributed to the script that follows a straitlaced professor who moonlights as a fake hit man for his city police department. “He meets his match in a client who steals his heart and ignited a powder-keg of deception, delight and mixed-up identities.” Adria Arjona stars alongside Powell. Watch the trailer above.

SEEVenice Film Festival 2023 reviews: Richard Linklater’s ‘Hit Man’ proves the sleeper of the fest, ‘a hidden gem’ that’s ‘studded with delicious moments’

“Hit Man” debuted at the Venice Film Festival las summer and later played to enthusiastic response at the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. The film is set to debut in select theaters on May...

Glen Powell in Hit Man Photo: Netflix You’d think that, by now, Glen Powell’s characters would have learned that adopting a false identity and lying to pretty much everyone you know never pans out well, but nope! The actor is trading being Sydney Sweeney’s fake boyfriend in...

Glen Powell in Hit ManPhoto: Netflix

You’d think that, by now, Glen Powell’s characters would have learned that adopting a false identity and lying to pretty much everyone you know never pans out well, but nope! The actor is trading being Sydney Sweeney’s fake boyfriend in Anyone But You...

Glen Powell is using his undeniable charm to put people behind bars in the new trailer for Netflix’s Hit Man. The streaming service released the official trailer for the Richard Linklater-directed film on Thursday, showing Powell as a strait-laced professor with a hidden talent as a fake hit man.

As a part-time, undercover hit man for the New Orleans Police Department, Gary Johnson (Powell) takes on several disguises sporting fake teeth, strawberry bobs, leather trench coats, and three-piece suits to lure in criminals. But he loses focus after meeting client Madison,...

With Richard Linklater’s thriller Hitman arriving in June, here’s the new trailer, featuring Glenn Powell and Adria Arjona.

Update: Ahead of a limited cinema release on the 24th May, and a streaming debut on Netflix on 7th June, a new trailer for Hit Man has emerged. This is the Richard Linklater thriller starring Glenn Powell that has received lots of glowing reviews following its debut at assorted film festivals in 2023.

The new trailer can be found below this sentence, while the previous trailer from January can be found beneath that. Bye!

Our original story follows:

22nd January 2023: Glen Powell seems to be enjoying his moment in the sun right now. Not only was Top Gun: Maverick (you might have heard of it) the second-highest grossing film of 2022, it looks like his latest star vehicle – Shakespeare-inspired rom-com Anyone But You – has turned into the surprise box office smash of this winter season.

Netflix has shared the official trailer and poster for director Richard Linklater’s new romantic action comedy Hit Man, starring Glen Powell and Adria Arjona. The film will open in select theaters on Friday, May 24, and then will start streaming on Netflix on June 7.

Based on Skip Hollandsworth’s Texas Monthly article, Hit Man will be available to stream in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, and Iceland. The movie is rated R for language throughout, sexual content, and some violence.

Written by Linklater and Powell, the movie was inspired by an unbelievable true story: a straight-laced professor discovers he has a hidden talent as a fake hitman. He meets his match in a client who steals his heart and ignites a powder keg of deception, delight, and mixed-up identities.

The cast includes Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio,...

What happens when a fake hit man blurs the lines between reality and fiction? The true story of a professor going undercover acts as a starting point for Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” (read our review). Its premise goes well beyond the events written about by Texas Monthly’s Skip Hollandsworth. Instead, the film takes a fictional journey into what could have happened between two people under different circumstances.

Continue reading ‘Hit Man’ Trailer: Glen Powell & Adria Arjona Lead Richard Linklater’s New Romantic Action Flick at The Playlist.

Netflix has released the trailer for Richard Linklater’s upcoming action-comedy, Hit Man. Watch Glen Powell star as a seductive faux assassin in the clip below.

Hit Man follows Gary Johnson (Powell) as he moonlights as a fake hit man for the New Orleans Police Department. When his deviousness lands him in troubled waters with a young woman named Madison (Adria Arjona) who’s in an abusive relationship, plans go awry. The film, co-written by Linklater and Powell, is based on a 2001 Texas Monthly magazine article of the same name by Skip Hollandsworth.

“As Madison falls for one of Gary’s hit man personas — the mysteriously sexy Ron — their steamy affair sets off a chain reaction of play acting, deception, and escalating stakes,” reads the official synopsis. The film also stars Austin Amelio, Retta, and Molly Bernard.

Hit Man will premiere on Netflix on June 7th following a limited theatrical release.

When someone talks about a “hit man movie,” or a film about a contract killer, certain images spring to mind: a lonely soul, hollowed out on the inside and waiting across a street with a sniper rifle; a merciless killer who takes no pleasure in life while dealing out cold, calculated professionalism in his trade; maybe a lot of glowering. These are familiar tropes which can sometimes be done well—see: David Fincher’s The Killer on Netflix as Exhibit A. Perhaps, however, their familiarity is why Richard Linklater’s Hit Man has struck a chord with everyone who’s laid eyes on it.

An apparently goofy and feel-good story about a wiseacre assassin and the love story he gets wrapped up in along the way, Hit Man is the latest collaboration between the director of Boyhood and the Before Sunrise trilogy and his evermore popular muse, Glen Powell. Powell...

Richard Linklater’s new Netflix film “Hit Man,” with co-writer Glen Powell (“Anyone But You”) in the leading role, has landed its official release date.

The acclaimed project, described by Netflix as “film noir meets comedy romance,” debuts on Netflix starting on June 7 in select countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Korea. A brief theatrical run will precede the “Hit Man” Netflix debut.

Based on a Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth, “Hit Man” is “the somewhat true story of a fake hit man. The film adapts the profile piece about real-life faux hit man Gary Johnson but imagines a more detailed inner life that ultimately skews from the truth to create a thrilling story and psychological study on the themes of identity.”

Powell plays Johnson in the film with Adria Arjona (“Andor”) co-starring as a woman who seeks to hire Johnson to kill her husband.

Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” is hitting 2024 Sundance with a West Coast premiere.

The baffling true story is adapted for the big screen by lead star Glen Powell and auteur Linklater, with the “Everybody Wants Some!” duo reuniting to co-write the script. Powell stars as a professor who poses as an assassin, falls in love with a would-be client (Adria Arjona), and loses sight of his (true) self.

The film premiered at 2023 Venice and screened at 2023 NYFF before debuting with a Spotlight premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Per the official synopsis: “Based on a Texas Monthly profile feature by Skip Hollandsworth, ‘Hit Man’ is the somewhat true story of a fake hit man. The film adapts the profile piece about real-life faux hit man Gary Johnson but imagines a more detailed inner life that ultimately skews from the truth to create a thrilling story and psychological study on the themes of identity.

One of the most exciting movie releases of 2024 just got its first trailer. "Hit Man," the latest film by acclaimed indie director Richard Linklater (the man responsible for "School of Rock") received near-universal praise when it screened at film festivals in the fall of last year, and now audiences can finally get a taste of what the fuzz is about. Turns out, a lot of it may just be the chance to see Glen Powell dressing up in a lot of silly outfits. You know what, though? We're fully in.

"Hit Man" sees the latest collaboration between Powell and Linklater after "Everybody Wants Some!!" and "Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood," and this time they also co-wrote the script together, based on the 2001 Texas Monthly magazine article of the same name by Skip Hollandsworth (who also wrote the article that inspired Linklater's "Bernie" as well as co-writing that screenplay...

All pie is good pie in the first trailer for Richard Linklater and Glen Powell’s new dark comedy “Hit Man.” Netflix debuted footage of the film Monday morning, giving audiences a first look at one of the biggest crowdpleasers of the fall festival circuit.

It will release on Netflix on June 7 in the U.S. and other select countries with a limited theatrical release prior.

Based on the 2001 Texas Monthly magazine article of the same name by Skip Hollandsworth, “Hit Man” follows a Houston police associate (Powell) who disguises himself as an assassin in order to catch willing clients. After getting invested in saving one particular woman (Adria Arjona) in an abusive relationship, hijinks ensue. The film also stars Austin Amelio, Retta and Molly Bernard.

Coming off the success of “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Anyone but You,” Powell writes himself the role of a lifetime with “Hit Man,” collaborating with Linklater on the script.

Glen Powell’s star is on the rise since his fun, antagonistic performance in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick. You can currently see him steaming up the screen with Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You, plus he’s due to chase storms in the semi-sequel Twisters, and you can also now get a look at him in the new Richard Linklater film, Hit Man. While the generic-sounding title seemingly leads you to a kind of film you think you may have seen already, much like the similarly titled The Killer from David Fincher that starred Michael Fassbender as a hitman, the trailer is actually mysteriously an upbeat, fun romp with loads of critical praise plastered throughout. Glen Powell stars in the film as well as co-writing the screenplay with director Richard Linklater.

The trailer has been released from Netflix and the synopsis reads,

“A mild-mannered psychology professor (Glen Powell) interested in...

As the dual strike continues to chug along, the buzziest title of the fall festivals has found a home. The Richard Linklater-directed Hit Man, which was co-written by and stars Top Gun: Maverick breakout Glen Powell, has landed at Netflix after interest from multiple buyers, mostly the streaming services. Netflix landed it in a $20 million deal.

Hit Man tells the story of a real-life, mild-mannered psychology professor (Powell) who also posed as undercover hitman for the New Orleans police. But when he breaks protocol to help a desperate woman (played by Adria Arjona) trying to flee an abusive boyfriend, the character finds himself becoming one of his false personas, falling for the woman and flirting with turning into a criminal himself. The feature is based on a 2001 Texas Monthly true-crime article from Skip Hollandsworth, who worked with Linklater on Bernie.

Out of the Venice Film Festival, Hit Man received positive reviews.

Netflix shelled out a staggering $20 million for “Hit Man,” a (sort of) true-crime comedy from director Richard Linklater and star Glen Powell. The streaming service has acquired rights in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and other key international territories.

The movie, which played to enthusiastic crowds at Venice and Toronto film festivals, has been one of the few notable sales from this year’s fall festival circuit. Netflix also acquired Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut “Woman of the Hour” out of TIFF for $11 million, while A24 nabbed the Colman Domingo-led “Sing Sing.” But deals have been slow to come together for other movies on the market, such as Chris Pine’s “Poolman” or Viggo Mortensen’s “The Dead Don’t Hurt.”

“Hit Man” follows Powell as Gary Johnson, a part-time teacher who moonlights as a mysterious gun man for hire. But there’s a catch in hiring him to...

Netflix has acquired Richard Linklater and Glen Powell’s buzzy “Hit Man,” TheWrap has learned. With a reported payout of $20 million, this marks the second major buy for the streaming giant amid this year’s Venice and Toronto film festivals following their reported $11 million acquisition of Anna Kendrick’s “Woman of the Hour.”

“Hit Man” stars Powell, who co-wrote the screenplay with Linklater based on a Skip Hollandsworth-penned “Texas Monthly” article. The film concerns an alleged master assassin who is secretly working for the cops. Adria Arjona plays an apparently battered wife who inspires enough sympathy from the faux killer to make him consider doing the job for real.

Ben Croll wrote in his review for TheWrap that the picture “is a deliriously entertaining star vehicle, a throwback to the low-concept, high-reward studio crowd-pleasers built around a comic persona and designed to showcase a gifted performer’s range.”

It...

Exclusive: Netflix closed a $20 million deal on Hit Man, making the biggest deal at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and of the year for that matter. After the Richard Linklater-directed noir comic thriller debuted to raves at Venice, the film was expected to fetch the biggest deal of the fall festivals so far. Hit Man did not disappoint. Hit Man stars Top Gun Maverick’s Glen Powell and Adria Arjona (Andor) playing the most unlikely romantic partners, in performances that will boost each of their careers. Especially Powell, who co-wrote with Linklater what will be a major star turn for him. Netflix got US, UK, Australia/New Zealand, India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, and Iceland. There is also a theatrical component to the deal, I’ve heard.

Heading into its final weekend, TIFF had been slow so far on the deal front, but this...

Two of the most acclaimed American filmmakers, Francis Ford Coppola and Richard Linklater, are looking for distributors for their latest films, which premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. Both films have received positive reviews from critics and audiences, but have not secured any deals yet.

Francis Ford Coppola’s film, Megalopolis, is an epic science fiction drama that follows an architect who wants to rebuild New York City as a utopia after a devastating disaster. The film features an ensemble cast, including Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia Labeouf, Jason Schwartzman, Grace VanderWaal, Kathryn Hunter, Talia Shire, Dustin Hoffman, Giancarlo Esposito and D. B. Sweeney. Coppola wrote the screenplay in the 1980s and has been trying to make the film for decades. He finally managed to finance the film with his own money, investing over $100 million of his own fortune. Deadline...

Richard Linklater cast Glen Powell in his new hitman film as he though the actor had the same type of shyness as its main character. The 63-year-old ‘Boyhood’ director’s latest movie is action-comedy ‘Hit Man’ and got a hugely positive reception from audiences and critics when it was shown at this year’s Venice Film Festival, which wrapped up on 9 September. It features ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ star Glen, 34, playing Gary Johnson, a college professor who secretly works for the New Orleans Police Department to expose assassination plots. Gary poses as a hitman while the cops listen in, hoping that prospective clients hire him to pull the trigger on a target – leading to them being jailed. It is based on a true story carried in Texas Monthly magazine in 2001, written by Skip Hollandsworth, 65, who also co-wrote Richard’s 2011 comedy ‘Bernie’ starring Jack Black, 54. Gary adopts a string of disguises in...

One night in 2016, I was working at a small movie theater in Austin, Texas, when a man leaned over the cash register and shook my hand. “Thanks for tonight,” he gleamed. He had kind eyes and a warm smile. All I’d done was show up for my shift, so I nodded back and forgot about it. There was some fundraiser going on. Minutes later, a co-worker grabbed me: “You just shook the hand of a murderer.”

It wasn’t Richard Linklater––he’s clean––but it was one of his characters, this time in real life: Bernie Tiede. “Murderer” might not be the fairest label for Bernie, but the East Texas saint-turned-sinner is the poster child for the many sweet, chatty men that undergo severe change across Linklater’s filmography. He might also be the closest character to the newest: Gary Johnson. Or should we call him Ron?

Like Bernie,...

Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” stars Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, a milquetoast philosophy professor who moonlights as an undercover cop set on flushing out people who hire contract killers.

One day, Johnson gets the call to pose as a killer for hire, and proves he has a real talent for impersonation — and arrests. He dons different contract killer personas for different stings. When he meets Madison (Adria Arjona), a woman who wants her husband killed, he tries to talk her out of the decision. Instead, they fall for each other.

A modern-day noir — based on a true story by Skip Hollandsworth that ran 20 years ago in Texas Monthly — is infused with shaggy humor, sexy chemistry between the leads, and a giant twist. Powell and Arjona deliver star turns in Linklater’s Venice screener, and a terrific time at the movies for adults.

Linklater and Powell co-wrote the screenplay. AGC Intl.

Not a lot was expected of Richard Linklater’s 23rd film, “Hit Man,” before it premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival on Tuesday, September 5. For one, it was coming at the end of a mini trend of films studying contract killers (or those who impersonate them). First came David Fincher’s “The Killer.” There was also Woody Allen’s “Coup de Chance,” which has a murder-for-hire as a central plotline. “Hit Man” came relatively late to the game, but in the process may have snatched the thunder out from under the other two in terms of audience response and early critical buzz that’s heaping praise on the acclaimed director of “Boyhood,” “School of Rock,” “Apollo 10 1/2,” “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight.”

The indie action comedy “Hit Man” stars Glen Powell, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Linklater. The story is very loosely based on a 2001 Texas Monthly article...

Richard Linklater brought his Hit Man to the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday, world premiering the comedy thriller out of competition to a six-minute ovation inside the Sala Grande.

The crowd’s response to the pic was notably enthusiastic, with one scene in particular between star Glen Powell and co-star Adria Arjona causing the audience to erupt in applause.

(Watch) 6-minute ovation for Richard Linklater’s ‘Hit Man’ #Venezia80 pic.twitter.com/JlfIMTDCaK

— Deadline Hollywood (@Deadline) September 5, 2023

Hit Man is loosely based on a true crime article Linklater came across about 20 years ago in the Texas Monthly about Gary Johnson, who had helped Houston police catch would-be criminals seeking a hitman’s services.

In the New Orleans-set film, this true tale is the jumping-off point for an escalating affair between Johnson (Powell) and a desperate woman (Arjona) trying to flee an abusive husband as Johnson finds himself becoming one of his false personas,...

Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” received a spirited five-minute standing ovation on Tuesday night, as the director handed out high fives.

The action comedy, which stars Glen Powell, received cheers from the beginning, with the crowd clapping throughout the film during various scenes.

During the standing ovation, Linklater looked overwhelmed by the applause, mouthing “thank you so much” and holding his hand to his heart. After the applause lasted several minutes, Linklater exchanged high fives with those near him, including his partner Christina Harrison and their daughter.

Linklater spoke at the film’s Venice press conference about working so closely with Powell on “Hit Man,” saying, “We never quit working on this movie. We worked all weekend, we worked all night. We were shooting in New Orleans and we never went out. I think we went out to eat once.”

“Hit Man” received strong reviews out of Venice, with Variety...

The otherwise unassuming figure of Richard Linklater was the star attraction at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday night, as the beloved filmmaker’s latest feature, Hit Man, held its world premiere on the Lido.

The film — a darkly comic thriller about an unlikely undercover assassin and starring a wildly charismatic Glen Powell and Adria Arjona (neither in attendance because of the SAG-AFTRA strike) — proved a huge hit with the Venice festival crowd, drawing a standing ovation of six minutes, with cheers from the audience.

Based on a true-crime magazine article written by Skip Hollandsworth (with whom Linklater collaborated on his 2011 film, Bernie), Hit Man tells the story of a real-life, mild-mannered psychology professor who moonlit as an undercover hitman for the New Orleans police. But when he breaks protocol to help a desperate woman trying to flee an abusive boyfriend, the character finds himself becoming one of his false personas,...

It was 22 years ago that Skip Hollandsworth wrote a Texas Monthly article about Gary Johnson, a school teacher who moonlights as a hit man who doesn’t kill people. Now if that doesn’t sound like the formula for a hit movie, you may understand why it has taken so long for Gary’s story to make it to the silver screen — so long in fact that its subject passed away before he could hit the red carpet of the Venice Film Festival, where the film is having its world premiere tonight.

Nevertheless, Glen Powell never forgot the story and has teamed with Richard Linklater to finally tell it, though it is only “loosely” based on the original article. Certain details in the screenplay co-written by Linklater and Powell are made up, and those are the details that actually help make this a hilarious winner, as well as perhaps Linklater...

Based on a 2001 Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth, Richard Linklater’s breezily amusing “Hit Man” — one of those laugh-light comedies that bills itself as “a somewhat true story” — begins with a premise that requires a greater suspension of disbelief than many people might be able to muster.

Can you believe that a straight-laced New Orleans college professor named Gary Johnson, a sexless birder who lives alone with his cats and drives a Honda Civic, could start moonlighting as a phony hit man for the local police? Sure. Can you believe, as we’re told, that Gary is so good at luring customers into confessing their intended crimes because his face is as forgettable as his name? Maybe, but it would probably be less of a stretch if Gary weren’t played by “Top Gun: Maverick” star Glen Powell, who is plainly one of the most handsome and charismatic human...

Richard Linklater’s features since his masterwork Boyhood (2014) — Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Last Flag Flying, and Everybody Wants Some!! — have been a decidedly mixed bag, but Hit Man finds him having a blast with a sexy black comedy boasting a sly streak of poignancy. Redoubtable supporting player Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) here offers a career-boosting, range-flaunting turn as a geeky academic who stumbles into doing a very specific kind of undercover work for the police: posing as, per the title, a hit man.

But when he falls for Adria Arjona’s saucy semi-fatale femme — who at one point tries to hire him to kill her husband — farcical maneuvers are required to keep both of them out of trouble. Given the chemistry between the two leads that could restart a dormant nuclear power plant, viewers are likely to come away sated with...

On its surface, a comedy about a college professor who becomes a phony hitman for the police department to catch criminals hoping to whack a stubborn spouse or bothersome business associate might seem an odd fit for a European festival noted for heavy dramas and extended runtimes. It helps, of course, that Hit Man, which premieres at Venice Film Festival this evening, is directed by Richard Linklater, a noted master of independent filmmaking for more than 30 years, and that initial reactions to it have been universally effusive.

Linklater was in a reflective mood when I met him on the morning of the film’s premiere, perhaps buoyed by word from the previous evening’s press and industry screenings of the film.

Hit Man was a project Linklater had mused on for years, he told me, from the moment he first read Texas Monthly’s 2001 article about Gary Johnson, who had...