Ben Wheatley to helm adaptation of Hard Boiled; Tom Hiddleston eyed to star

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Are you tired of the same old comic book movies? Exhausted from all the men in iron suits, shield-hucking patriots, and gravelly-voiced bat-men fighting overly-emotional super-men? Then the movie version of the comic classic HARD BOILED, which has just found a new director, is looking to be the flick for you…unless you're also tired of robots. This has lots of robots.

Deadline reports that the Eisner award-winning comic miniseries from writer Frank Miller and artist Geof Darrow will finally be heading to theaters courtesy of director Ben Wheatley, who will make the movie as an action vehicle for star Tom Hiddleston, who also starred in the director’s film HIGH RISE. No word yet on who will pen the script, but it will be a co-production between Solipsist Films and Hollywood Gang, who brought us SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR and the 300 movies respectively.

The comics were released from 1990-1992 as a three-issue miniseries about a man named Carl Seltz who discovers from a robot that he is an uber-violent robot tax collector named Unit Four—codenamed Nixon—who is the only hope for saving an enslaved robot race. The movie will of course serve as a timely think-piece on our relationship with machines, and how we make IPhones tell us movie showtimes and drones deliver our groceries.

I like some of you probably thought of the famed action-thriller HARD BOILED from director John Woo when I first heard the news, but was relieved to read this was an entirely different beast. Wheatley has made a name for himself making cerebral, off-the-wall, super-violent projects, so BOILED seems right up his alley. Adaptations of Miller's work have ranged from "that was amazing" to "…meh", but they always manage to be at least somewhat entertaining. Whealtey's knack for hyper-stylized action (see the FREE FIRE trailer below) should ensure the movie will deliver much robot-driven carnage, if nothing else. America!

Catch Ben Wheatley's newest film, FREE FIRE, on March 17 with Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley and more.