Richard Linklater and leading man/co-writer Glen Powell first conceived the idea for “Hit Man” during the pandemic after Powell shared an article about a real-life professor-turned-hitman named Gary Johnson.
Linklater said he was immediately drawn in by the bizarre duality of Johnson’s life. “It’s so desperate and weird,” Linklater said at TheWrap’s Sundance Portrait and Interview Studio presented by NFP.
“He was so compelling when he was on the mic, when he was in front of people…and then he would go home and he’d be with his cats.” Powell added.
Powell stars as Johnson, a mild-mannered philosophy professor who secretly moonlights as a gun-for-hire.