The Gunman (film)

The Gunman

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Pierre Morel
Produced by
Screenplay by
Based on The Prone Gunman 
by Jean-Patrick Manchette
Starring
Music by Marco Beltrami
Cinematography Flavio Martinez Labiano
Edited by Frédéric Thoraval
Production
companies
Distributed by Open Road Films
Release dates
  • March 20, 2015
Running time
 115 minutes[1]
Country
  • United States
  • Spain
  • France
Language English
Budget $40 million[2]
Box office $14.8 million[3]

The Gunman is a 2015 American action thriller film directed by Pierre Morel and written by Don Macpherson, Pete Travis and Sean Penn, based on the novel The Prone Gunman, by Jean-Patrick Manchette. It stars Penn, with Idris Elba, Ray Winstone, Mark Rylance, and Javier Bardem appearing in supporting roles.[4] The film was released on March 20, 2015 by Open Road Films.

Plot

An ex-soldier who carried out an assassination in the Democratic Republic of Congo finds his past catching up with him eight years later.

Cast

Sean Penn

Production

Development

Circa January 2013, French action director Pierre Morel (Taken) entered negotiations to direct Sean Penn in Prone Gunman, an action thriller being produced by Silver Pictures’ Joel Silver and Andrew Rona. The film is based on the 1981 novel The Prone Gunman by Jean-Patrick Manchette.[5] The project, from Silver Pictures, was fully financed by StudioCanal, who sold out rights to the film at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.[6]

In May 2013, Deadline reported that Javier Bardem would play a villain.[4] In June, Deadline said that Ray Winstone had just joined the film. He played a mentor of the hitman (Penn), who is betrayed and then hunted by the organization he worked for. Jasmine Trinca is the female lead.[7] Bardem played Trinca’s husband, and Elba played a mysterious operative named Dupont.[8][9]

On May 8, 2014, Open Road Films acquired the US distribution rights to the film.[10]

Filming

Principal photography took place in the spring of 2013 in several locales across Europe.[11]

Reception

Box office

As of April 26, 2015, The Gunman has grossed $16.4 million, against a budget of $40 million.[3]

The film grossed $5 million in its opening weekend, finishing at 4th at the box office.

Critical reception

The Gunman has received generally negative reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 16% approval rating, based on 135 reviews, with a rating average of 4.3/10. The site's consensus reads, "With an uninspired plot and rote set pieces that are overshadowed by its star's physique, The Gunman proves a muddled misfire in the rapidly aging Over-50 Action Hero genre."[12] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 39 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[13]

Critic Dave Palmer gave the film a 3/10, saying, “The Gunman has all the looks and feel of a mid-day soap opera, but the razor-sharp excitement of a mid-day soap opera".[14]

References

[15]

  1. ↑ "THE GUNMAN (15)". British Board of Film Classification. February 6, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  2. ↑ "'Insurgent' could kick off with as much as $60 million". LA Times. 1965-03-07. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "The Gunman (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fleming, Mike (2013-06-05). "Javier Bardem Pacts Pair: He’ll Star In J.C. Chandor’s ‘A Most Violent Year’ And Opposite Sean Penn In ‘The Gunman’". Deadline. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  5. ↑ "Ray Winstone To Train ‘The Gunman’". The Hollywood News. 2013-06-16. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  6. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (2013-05-19). "Cannes: Raft Of Buyers Target Studiocanal’s Sean Penn-Starrer ‘The Gunman’". Deadline. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  7. ↑ Fleming, Mike (2013-06-14). "Ray Winstone Has Sean Penn’s Back In ‘The Gunman’". Deadline. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  8. ↑ "Idris Elba Joins Sean Penn and Javier Bardem in Pierre Morel’s ‘Gunman’ - /Film". Slashfilm.com. 2013-06-14. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  9. ↑ "Idris Elba Set To Join Sean Penn, Jasmine Trinca & Javier Bardem In ‘The Gunman’ | FlicksandBits.com - Movie News, Trailers, Interviews, Features, Images, Posters, Art & More". FlicksandBits.com. 2013-06-14. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  10. ↑ Fleming Jr, Mike (8 May 2014). "Open Road Acquiring StudioCanal’s ‘The Gunman’ With Sean Penn, Javier Bardem, Idris Elba And Ray Winstone". deadline.com. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "'Taken' Director to Helm Sean Penn Thriller 'Prone Gunman' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  12. ↑ "The Gunman". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  13. ↑ "The Gunman Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  14. ↑ ""Gunman" Low on Guns, High on Snoozes". The Reel Deal. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Movie Review: The Gunman – Watch it only for Sean Penn". Free Press Journal. Retrieved Mar 27, 2015.

External links