The Man from Toronto - Jason Statham & Kevin Hart in Talks to Star

[Darth Marcus]

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Kevin Hart, Jason Statham in Talks to Team for Action Comedy 'Man From Toronto'
Borys Kit - January 29, 2020

Patrick Hughes, who directed the Ryan Reynolds-Samuel L. Jackson action comedy 'Hitman’s Bodyguard,' is on board to helm.

Kevin Hart and Jason Statham are in negotiations to team up for The Man from Toronto, an action comedy set up at Sony Pictures.

The project is a reteaming of sorts as the two shared briefly some scenes in 2019’s Hobbs & Shaw in which Hart cameoed.

Patrick Hughes, who directed the Ryan Reynolds-Samuel L. Jackson action comedy Hitman’s Bodyguard, is on board to helm Toronto, which the studio has slotted for a Nov. 20, 2020 release. It will be a tight turnaround as the project is eyeing a March production start.

The story uses a case of a mistaken identity as its jumping off point after the world’s deadliest assassin, known as the Man from Toronto, and a New York City screw-up run into each other at an Airbnb. A clash of personalities, and a clash with deadly killers, ensues.

Robbie Fox wrote the script from a story by Fox and Jason Blumenthal. Blumenthal is producing along with Todd Black and Steve Tisch, his partners at Escape Artists. Escape Artists produced the sleeper hit The Upside, which starred Hart.

The studio hopes to capture the vibe, and the box office returns, of the duo’s previous hits, but separately-starring Central Intelligence and Hobbs.

The movie is not related to the 1933 romantic comedy about a Canadian and an Englishman who have never met but stand to inherit a fortune if they wed.

Hughes, who hails from Australia, made his debut with the police thriller Red Hill and made his Stateside debut with 2014’s The Expendables 3. He has a sequel to Hitman’s Bodyguard, titled The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, is post with an eye toward a late August, 2020 release.

Hart is currently on screens with Jumanji: The Next Level, which has grossed over $737.2 million worldwide. He is also starring in comedic drama Fatherhood for Sony.

Statham worked with Hughes on Expendables 3. Hobbs grossed over almost $759 million worldwide when it was released last year.

Hart is repped by UTA, 3 Arts Entertainment and Schreck Rose. Statham is repped by WME and Goodman Schenkman. Hughes is repped by WME and Felker Toczek.