Introduction

The Contractor (formerly known as Violence of Action) is an upcoming American action film by director Tarik Saleh, making his English language film debut, starring Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Gillian Jacobs, Eddie Marsan, Florian Munteanu, and Kiefer Sutherland.

Also known as Violence of Action (working title, US).

Outline

James Harper (Pine), who is involuntarily discharged from the US Army Special Forces, joins a private contracting organisation alongside his best friend (Foster) and under the command of a fellow veteran (Sutherland) in order to support his family.

Overseas on a covert mission, Harper must evade those trying to kill him while making his way back home.

Cast

• Chris Pine as James Harper.
• Ben Foster as Mike.
• Gillian Jacobs.
• Eddie Marsan.
• Kiefer Sutherland.
• Nina Hoss.
• Amira Casar.
• Fares Fares as Salim Mohamed Mohsin.
• J.D. Pardo as Eric.
• Florian Munteanu as Kaufman.

Production

The project was announced in May 2019 with Chris Pine set to star.

In October, Ben Foster and Gillian Jacobs were cast as well. The filming started in October 2019 in the United States, and will be filmed in Europe later in the year. The film is produced by Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee from Thunder Road Films with Esther Hornstein co-producing. Executive producers includes 30WEST’s Dan Friedkin, Micah Green and Dan Steinman, along with Pine, Jonathan Fuhrman, Tom Lassally and Josh Bratman. In November 2019, filming in Romania started for around 8 weeks. In December 2019, Eddie Marsan, Nina Hoss, Amira Casar, Fares Fares and J.D. Pardo has joined the film. The filming wrapped by the end of 2019.

On 10 November, it was reported that the title of the movie has been changed from Violence of Action (also the name of a 2012 Steven Seagal film) to The Contractor.

Release

In February 2021, STXfilms acquired distribution rights to the film. The movie was originally scheduled for release on 10 December 2021, but was delayed to 18 March 2022, being further delayed to 01 April 2022. In February 2022, it was announced Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment and Showtime acquired distribution rights to the film. Paramount will release the film in a simultaneous limited theatrical and premium video-on demand release, with the film coming to Paramount+ and Showtime later in the year.

Trivia

• This is Chris Pine and Ben Foster’s third film together following The Finest Hours (2016) and Hell or High Water (2016).

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s):
  • Tarik Saleh.
• Producer(s):
  • Jake Carter … Production Executive: 30WEST.
  • Michael Flynn … executive producer.
  • Dan Friedkin … executive producer.
  • Jonathan Fuhrman … executive producer.
  • Micah Green … executive producer.
  • Esther Hornstein … executive producer.
  • Basil Iwanyk … producer.
  • Erica Lee … producer.
  • David Minkowski … co-producer.
  • Carmen Pepelea … co-producer.
  • Chris Pine … executive producer.
  • Robert Simonds … executive producer.
  • Daniel Steinman … executive producer.
• Writer(s):
  • J.P. Davis.
• Music:
  • Alex Belcher.
• Cinematography:
  • Pierre Aim.
• Editor(s):
  • Theis Schmidt.
• Production:
  • 30WEST.
  • Icon Films.
• Distributor(s):
  • STX Films (2022) (Non-US) (all media).
  • Elevation Pictures (2022) (Canada) (theatrical).
  • STX International (2022) (UK) (theatrical).
  • Film & TV House (2022) (Non-US) (Non-US) (all media) (multi-territory).
  • GEM Entertainment (2022) (Non-US) (Non-US) (all media) (multi-territory).
  • The Searchers (2022) (Netherlands) (theatrical).
  • Joy n Cinema (2022) (Korea) (all media).
  • Leonine Distribution (2022) (Germany) (all media).
  • Paramount Pictures (2022) (USA) (all media).
  • Showtime (2022) (USA) (video) (VOD).
  • The Searchers (2022) (Belgium) (all media).
• Release Date: 11 March 2022 (Turkey) and 01 April 2022 (US and UK).
• Rating: R.
• Running Time: 90 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

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