Dave Bautista’s new action movie achieves what Jason Statham, Michael Keaton and Wesley Snipes couldn’t

Dave Bautista stars in a new action movie, The killer’s gameAnd he does what Jason Statham, Michael Keaton and Wesley Snipes couldn’t in the process. The 2024 movie puts Bautista back in the familiar territory of being an action star. After his breakout role in Guardians of the Galaxy In 2014, the WWE wrestler-turned-actor gained attention in Hollywood as a potential leading man in the genre, thanks to his muscular build and natural physical abilities. This ultimately led him to land the lead role in The killer’s game And get a chance to headline a long-gestating project.

The killer’s game follows the character of Dave Bautista, Joe Flood, a murderer whose life changes when he is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Not wanting to die of the disease, Flood ordered a hit on himself so that his death was quick and done by an expert. However, he quickly learns that his illness was a misdiagnosis and that he cannot stop murderers from hunting him down. Anyone who watches The killer’s game Will deal with Dave Bautista’s character fighting for his life and attempting to launch a new action franchise. The history of the project makes it even more impressive.

Jason Statham, Michael Keaton & Wesley Snipes failed to make the killer’s game before Dave Bautista

Bautista is not the first choice

Dave Bautista could be the star of The killer’s gameBut the movie had a long development process which led to various notable actors being attached to it earlier. The earliest iteration of the movie was meant to star Wesley SnipesAs New Line Cinema Court the actor in 2002, right in the aftermath of Blade IIs release. ;

The studio ultimately failed to attract a director to this version of The killer’s gameleading to Wesley Snipes walking away from the project. After Wesley snipes widely The killer’s gameMichael Keaton took a turn to be attached to it. This came about when the project moved from New Line to Paramount and Simon Kinberg began rewriting the script himself.

However, Keaton’s version of The killer’s game was lost when Intermedia, the film’s producing partner, shut down. It wasn’t until 2018 that development picked up again, this time with STX Films Envision The killer’s game As an addition to Jason Statham’s action movies. however, Statham left the movie a year later to pursue other projects, leading to the casting of Dave Bautista.

How Dave Bautista managed to make the killer’s game after over 20 years

The actor waited four years for production to begin

The way to The killer’s gameThe release is over 20 years long, but Dave Bautista is the one who finally managed to make it. Wesley Snipes, Michael Keaton and Jason Statham all failed to bring the action movie adaptation of Jay Bonansinga’s book to the big screen. The simple reason why Bautista’s version happened when the others didn’t is patience.

Snipes, Keaton and Statham are all attached to The killer’s game For two years or less Before moving on. Meanwhile, Bautista waited four years after his casting for production to begin. There was almost a time when Dave Bautista could have joined Snipes, Keaton and Statham as actors who failed to make it The killer’s game too.

The movie was in development when it was first cast in 2019, but the project was blocked behind the scenes for the next four years. It wasn’t until Lionsgate took control of the movie in 2023 that production dates were lined up, Bautista’s supporting cast was announced, and The killer’s game Finally happened after all these years.