Talk about an itchy trigger finger. Lionsgate is teaming up with Chad Stahelski and his 87Eleven production banner to produce an English-language remake of the Hindi action movie “Kill,” which hasn’t even opened domestically yet. It hits theaters on July 4.
Nikhil Nagesh Bhat wrote and directed the upcoming “Kill,” and as we wrote just this month, it’s basically “Bullet Train” with more knives, and we’re all here for that. It’s one of the first times a mainstream Hindi-language film directly partnered with a Hollywood studio for its North American theatrical release.
No director or cast has been set for the remake. The good news is Stahelski is clearly a fan of the original.
“’Kill’ is one of the most vivid, wild, and creative action movies I’ve seen recently,” he said in a statement. “Nikhil delivers relentless action sequences that need to be seen by as wide an audience as possible. It’s exciting to be developing an English-language version—we have big shoes to fill and I’m looking forward to working with Nikhil, Karan, Apoorva, Guneet, and Achin to achieve that.”
“Kill” producers Karan Johar and Apoorva Mehta for Dharma Productions, and Guneet Monga Kapoor & Achin Jain from Sikhya Entertainment said in a statement: “When we made ‘Kill’ with Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, we dreamed of global love, and seeing North American theaters chant ‘Kill! Kill! Kill!’ was like seeing that vision come alive. As we approach our global release, we are thrilled that 87Eleven Entertainment will produce a remake of our film in English. Partnering with Lionsgate, the award-winning studio behind genre-defining action movies, has been incredibly gratifying. This announcement coming before the original film’s release is unprecedented and a big win for Indian cinema. We are truly honored.”
“Kill” stars newcomer Lakshya alongside Raghav Juyal and Tanya Maniktala. The film premiered at last year’s TIFF in the Midnight Madness section and played again at Tribeca. The film is about star-crossed lovers Tulika (Maniktala) and Amrit (Lakshya) find their relationship jeopardized after Tulika’s family whisks her aboard the Rajdhani Express bound for New Delhi and an arranged marriage. Amrit then plans a gory “rescue” mission to win back his love and rewrite his destiny.
Lionsgate has worked closely with Stahelski on the recent “John Wick” films, including “Chapter 3: Parabellum,” last year’s “Chapter 4,” the Peacock prequel series “The Continental,” and the upcoming spinoff film “Ballerina” due out in 2025 starring Ana de Armas.
