Cannes: Lucy Liu, ‘Licorice Pizza’ Breakout Cooper Hoffman Join Christoph Waltz in Contract Killer Comedy ‘Old Guy’ (Exclusive)

Lucy Liu (Strange World, Shazam! Fury of the Gods) and Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza) have joined two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz (No Time to Die, Big Eyes, Inglourious Basterds) in Old Guy, the upcoming action comedy from Simon West (The Expendables 2, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider).

West directs and produces the feature, which was written by Greg Johnson (The Son) and recently wrapped in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where it was filmed on location, with support from Northern Ireland Screen. Highland Film Group is co-financing the action comedy and handling worldwide rights.

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Old Guy follows aging contract killer Danny Dolinski (Waltz), who still believes he’s the best at what he does. Stuck at a dead end but vying for the love of club manager Anata (Liu), Danny is thrilled when The Company pulls him back into the field, but only to train Gen Z newcomer Wihlborg (Hoffman), a prodigy assassin with an attitude. The mismatched pair is asked to eliminate top members of a competing crime syndicate and, in the process, uncover their employer’s true motive: removing the old guard in a full takeover. However, The Company didn’t anticipate that Danny’s experience coupled with the kid’s brilliance would create such an unlikely bond between the two, enabling them, with crucial help from Anata, to turn it all back on The Company.

“We are delighted that rising young talent Cooper Hoffman and Lucy Liu are joining our cast opposite the phenomenal Christoph Waltz,” said Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser. “Waltz and Hoffman have great chemistry and will brilliantly capture the unlikely bond between the veteran contract killer and the plucky young upstart. And Liu perfectly embodies the role of the cool and stylish club owner who finds an unlikely connection with Waltz’s seasoned assassin in this compelling and action-packed story.”

Old Guy is produced by Jib Polhemus (The Last Son, The Expendables 2), Martin Brennan (One Way, Zone 414), West and R.U. Robot Studio’s Petr Jákl (Medieval, The Last Full Measure). Hal Sadoff (The Nice Guys, Orphan: First Kill) and Norman Golightly (Lord of War, Ghost Rider) will produce on behalf of Dark Castle Entertainment. The film is executive produced by R.U. Robot Studio’s Martin J. Barab, Blue Rider Pictures’ Walter Josten (Around the World in 80 Days, Holes) and Aperture Media Partners’ Jared Underwood, Andrew Robinson and Dan Mandel. Hannah Leader and Frank DeMartini serve on the production’s legal team.

“Christoph has very unique humor on screen which will perfectly fit into the story and will make his character exceptional,” said Jákl.

Liu is repped by Framework Entertainment, CAA, The Artist Partnership and Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham; Hoffman is repped by CAA and Greenberg and Glusker; Waltz is repped by CAA and Sloan, Offer, Weber and Dern.

Highland Film Group’s current sales slate also includes the survival thriller The Ridge starring Billy Magnussen; the high-concept horror film Rosario starring Emeraude Toubia; Joe Carnahan’s survival thriller Not Without Hope starring Zachary Levi; the sci-fi thriller The Astronaut starring Emma Roberts and Laurence Fishburne; Dimitri Logothetis’ actioner Gunner starring Morgan Freeman and Luke Hemsworth; Jenn Wexler’s sci-fi thriller Rachel; Adam Cooper’s crime thriller Sleeping Dogs starring Russell Crowe and Karen Gillan; William Eubank’s action thriller Land of Bad starring Russell Crowe, Liam Hemsworth and Luke Hemsworth; Audrey Cummings’ western action film Place of Bones starring Heather Graham and Tom Hopper; the survival action-thriller Arcadian starring Nicolas Cage and Rod Blackhurst’s Blood For Dust starring Scoot McNairy, Kit Harington and Josh Lucas.

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