First Look At Arnold Schwarzenegger Action-Comedy ‘Why We’re Killing Gunther’

Arnold Schwarzenegger is still looking for that big screen comeback, having exhausted most the clout he’d built up around appearances in throwback action flicks (The Expendables trilogy, Escape Plan), or franchise sequels (Terminator: Genisys).

Arnie has found a modicum of recent success by starring in more unexpected or offbeat roles, like the grieving father of a zombie daughter, in Maggie. Today we have a first look at Schwarzenegger’s upcoming foray into the action-comedy genre, in the new film Why We’re Killing Gunther (via Coming Soon).

Written and directed by SNL alum Taran Killam, the movie follows “Gunther, ‘the world’s greatest hitman,’ who comes under friendly fire when a group of international assassins decides that he’s too much of a braggart for his own good and that they’ll off him once and for all. As they pursue him, however, they find that Gunther’s “world’s greatest hitman” title is not an undeserved one and that the master assassin is ahead of them every step of the way.

The film also stars Cobie Smulders (The Avengers), Allison Tolman (Krampus), Hannah Simone (The New Girl) and Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live).”

Sounds like a modern version of The Whole Nine Yards, the 2000 crime-comedy film that used Bruce Willis’ Die Hard persona for a story about a hitman living quietly in the suburbs, who gets drawn into beef with his old mob employers. Toss in the simplicity of a John Wick 2 assassins vs master assassin story, and viola! You have a good starring vehicle for Schwarzenegger.

Why We’re Killing Gunther will hit theaters sometime in 2017.