The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is the action-comedy sequel the world needs right now, and in an exclusive new clip, we see Ryan Reynolds having his moment of zen interrupted by Salma Hayek. The scene opens with Reynolds’ Michael Bryce as he begins a relaxing sabbatical away from the pressures, and dangers of his bodyguarding life. He speaks to himself in a life-affirming voiceover, while sitting poolside at an island resort and reading The Secret, assuring himself that he’s finally reached a point where he can just breathe easy.
It’s a noble pursuit that lasts all of 20 seconds, which is when Hayek’s Sonia Kincaid rips Michael’s headphones off his head to save him from almost certain peril. He re-enters the real world to a hail of gunfire and Sonia telling him to run as she pulls his arm. They reach a small bar and dive over the other side, safe from the flying bullets, at least momentarily. “I know you!” he explained, then unsure. “Don’t I know you?” Sonia explained that her husband is Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson), the hitman that previously hired Micahel to be his bodyguard. “The mafia took my husband,” she reveals. “We have to go get him.”
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This is not the life that Michael is trying to live, and he very ineffectively resists her order. “No, no, no. I’m not getting involved with this. I’m under strict psychological orders. Finally, Darius isn’t haunting my dreams.” Sonia, not one to tolerate Michael’s defiance, slaps him in the face and pulls him away. “You are vile!” he yells, begrudgingly following her.
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard takes place four years after The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017) and reunites Reynolds, Hayek and Jackson, a trio that kills on-screen, both with laughs and with whatever weapons they get their hands on. Richard E. Grant returns as well, and the four of them are joined this time around by Frank Grillo, Tom Hopper, Antonio Banderas and Morgan Freeman. The sequel is directed by Patrick Hughes, who directed the first film, from a script by Tom O’Connor, Brandon Murphy, and Phillip Murphy.
Filming for The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard began back in March 2019. It was originally set to be released on Aug. 28, 2020, but due to mass theater closures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it was pushed back a year. The initial reschedule would have seen the movie open on Aug. 20, 2021, but Lionsgate moved it up, and now fans will get all the action and laughs on June 16.
