Thomas Jane is returning as a gun man for hire in the upcoming sequel to 2009’s “Give ‘Em Hell, Malone.” Mark Hosack, the screenwriter for the first film, is returning to pen the follow-up.
Renegade Entertainment, the production company co-founded by Courtney Lauren Penn and Jane, is teaming up with Richard Rionda Del Castro’s Hannibal Media for the still-untitled sequel. Penn, Jane and Rionda are producing. Hannibal Media is fully financing the film, as well as handling worldwide sales and co-representing North America rights with Paradigm.
Principle photography is slated to begin in the third quarter of 2021.
“Malone has always been one of my favorite characters and we’re all thrilled that the original film found such a devoted fanbase,” said Jane. “I couldn’t stop thinking about where Malone would be now and where he is headed.”
Described as an “against-the-clock” thriller, the upcoming installment picks up as Malone reemerges after a decade of hiding from his past. When a chance encounter suddenly exposes him to the world and a sinister attack puts a ticking clock on his chances of living, Malone sets out to find the man who is trying to kill him.
“We’re determinedly irreverent at Renegade, and Malone is about as irreverent as it gets. Thomas and I approached Mark with a wild idea to see where Malone is in his life 10 years later: where is the unkillable gunman? Dying we supposed… but how? Who did it? And can death redeem him? We all tossed around themes and ideas and Mark turned in a script that blew us away,” said Penn, who heads content at Renegade.
The original film — directed by Russell Mulcahy — starred Jane, Ving Rhames, Elsa Pataky, French Stewart. Renegade Entertainment hopes to turn Jane’s Malone character into a full-fledged film franchise.
“Revisiting Malone is one of the highlights of my writing career,” Hosack said. “The idea was to inject Malone into a grounded, Hitchcockian-thriller this time — and put our anti-hero, not just through a physical grinder, but an emotional one as well. Sure, there’s all the action expected from a Malone movie, but as his story continues to unfold, you’ll get to see him journey to some pretty extreme places as a character. The idea is to keep it real and keep it dangerous. I can’t wait for everyone to check out what we’re cooking up.”
Renegade Entertainment launched in 2019. The production company’s recent slate includes western thriller “The Last Son of Isaac Lamay” and horror comedy “Slayers” with Jane and Abigail Breslin. Among the projects in development, Renegade has plans to produce an adaptation of Stephen King’s “From a Buick 8.”
Jane, Hosack and Renegade Entertainment are represented by Paradigm.