(Left) Nicolas Cage stars in ‘The Surfer’. Photo: Saturn Films. (Center) Alice Eve in ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’. Photo: Paramount Pictures. (Right) Sir Ben Kingsley in ‘The Thursday Murder Club’, which will launch on 28th August 2025 exclusively on Netflix. Photo: Netflix.
Preview:
Nicolas Cage, Ben Kingsley and Alice Eve are in the cast of ‘Fortitude’.
It’s an espionage action-adventure set during World War II.
Simon West is directing.
The cameras for the movie are already rolling, but World War II-set espionage action-adventure ‘Fortitude’ just announced, via Deadline, the sort of sprawling ensemble you’d have trouble listing in one breath.
Written by Simon Afram, the movie is based on the true story of British Intelligence operatives using unprecedented strategic operations to fool Nazi leadership and help change the course of World War II.
With historical consultation from Joshua Levine (‘Dunkirk’), the film follows the brilliance of British Army officers Dudley Clarke and Thomas Argyll “Tar” Robertson, who deployed an elaborate web of deception campaigns including fictitious armies, fake military equipment and a network of double agents to mislead Nazi Intelligence. Among them was Yugoslavian playboy Dusko Popov, a real-life double agent who is said to have inspired Ian Fleming’s James Bond character.
Who else is in ‘Fortitude’?
Sir Ben Kingsley in ‘The Killer’s Game’. Photo: Lionsgate.
“We are excited to bring together such a remarkable ensemble. Their chemistry and depth, paired with West’s direction, elevate this story into something truly gripping and unforgettable.”
The cameras started cranking earlier this month in London.
When will ‘Fortitude’ be in theaters?
Since this is more of an indie project, it’ll likely be putting its rights up for sale at film markets. And given that cast, we don’t imagine it’ll have too much trouble finding a home, but until then, a release date is lurking some way in the distance.
Is there anything left to say in the crime genre, more specifically in stories about hitmen? Well, last year’s ‘Hit Man,’ in fact, tried some different, sexy, and refreshing things, but this year’s ‘Old Guy’ seems content to recycle the same old tropes that we’ve seen a million times before.
Directed by Simon West – best known for disposable action fests like ‘Con Air,’ the first ‘Tomb Raider,’ and ‘The Expendables 2’ – ‘Old Guy’ isn’t exactly awful, and has some great actors in it. Yet it lives up to its title by exuding exhaustion from every frame. The progression of the plot is easy to predict from the word “go,” and the movie offers nothing particularly insightful or witty to counteract that. It’s the kind of material that you might find yourself second-screening on Netflix one day, and if that’s enough, then ‘Old Guy’ might be for you.
Story and Direction
(L to R) Director Simon West and Christoph Waltz behind the scenes on the set of the Action/Comedy film ‘Old Guy’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
Danny Dolinski (Christoph Waltz) is an aging, legendary hitman just coming back from surgery on his hand. Since it was his gun hand, Danny’s been unable to work for a couple of months, but when he shows up at the British countryside home of his boss Opal (Ann Akinjirin) ready for duty, he’s in for a shock: with Danny getting older and potentially less effective, she’s teaming him with a young killer named Wihlborg (Cooper Hoffman) who she wants Danny to train and observe in the field, although Danny senses that he’s ultimately going to be replaced.
Naturally, Danny does not take to this well, especially when Wihlborg turns out to be a croc-wearing, nail-painting hipster who looks like he’d be more at home at a Marias concert than the bars and nightclubs Danny likes to frequent. Unlike his would-be mentor, Wihlborg doesn’t drink, smoke, or show much interest in women (even being around alcohol makes him “uncomfortable,” he says) and takes his work very seriously: “This is a craft for me. Actually more like an art,” he tells Danny, who quickly retorts: “We’re no artists. We’re sanitation workers. We take out the garbage.”
Christoph Waltz in the Action/Comedy film ‘Old Guy’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
Typically, their first job together – which takes them to Belfast — does not go according to plan: Danny has Wihlborg wait in the car against Opal’s wishes, but when he screws up the kill due to his hand still healing, Wihlborg comes on the scene and dispatches the target and two bodyguards with ruthless efficiency. As a result, Danny develops a grudging respect for his younger partner, while still offering him advice when needed.
It turns out that the pair are going to need each other. That first target was the No. 3 man in a Belfast-based crime organization that Opal wants to take out so that she can consolidate her own empire. The next targets are Nos. 1 and 2. But there’s also a mole inside Opal’s organization who betrays everyone – forcing Danny and Wihlborg to work together to save their own skins. Also involved in all this is Anata (Lucy Liu), a bar owner who’s Danny’s weapon supplier and his great unrequited love. She improbably comes along on the trip to Belfast for a date with a doctor she’s met there — Danny is squarely in the friend zone for her — but it’s not long before her life is in danger as well.
Much of ‘Old Guy’ is taken up by the usual double-crosses, shootouts, chases, standoffs and escapes, with Danny finding his mojo again as the stakes are raised for him, Anata, and Wihlborg. The best thing we can say is that West shoots it all efficiently enough, with some gorgeous Northern Ireland scenery to gaze at when the action upfront falls flat, which is often the case.
The Cast and Performances
(L to R) Lucy Liu and Christoph Waltz in the Action/Comedy film ‘Old Guy’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
Ever since veteran Austrian-German actor Christoph Waltz burst into Hollywood with his stunning performance as the sadistic SS officer Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’ in 2009, his career on this side of the Atlantic has been a checkered one. While winning the Oscar for both ‘Basterds’ and his second Tarantino performance as King Schultz in 2012’s ‘Django Unchained,’ Waltz has also turned in scenery-chewing, hammy work in films like ‘The Green Hornet,’ ‘Downsizing,’ and the lasttwo James Bond film, where he played an unfortunately reinvented Blofeld.
Waltz can be an engaging, charismatic presence, and is a bit more restrained in ‘Old Guy’ than he’s been before. But the character is a cliché: the aging assassin who still has a moral code but finds the world moving past him, he’s disdainful of rules dictating what he can and can’t say, suspicious of people who don’t like to drink as prodigiously as him, and wary of working for criminals who treat their regimes almost as corporate entities. We’ve seen this before, and Waltz doesn’t offer any surprises in the role.
Cooper Hoffman in the Action/Comedy film ‘Old Guy’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
More interesting is Cooper Hoffman’s Wihlborg, although the idea that a young fellow who wears pajama pants on jobs can be taken seriously as a killer is a bit of a stretch. But rising star Hoffman does bring some shading to a somewhat underwritten role, showing some glimpses of the psychopath lurking under his soft exterior who’s at one point willing to kill a child.
On the other hand, the fabulous Lucy Liu is wasted in her role as Anata, the love interest who comes along on the ride for no other reason than to be placed in danger so that Danny can rescue her and make her realize that he’s been there for her all along. Liu is always magnetic to watch, but she deserves better and seems disinterested in this one-dimensional role.
Final Thoughts
Christoph Waltz in the Action/Comedy film ‘Old Guy’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
Crime as a numbers-crunching game, gangsters who still go home to see mom, wise-cracking banter, and hip-sounding needle drops – all elements that have played out over and over again in better movies. Even a cast that features top names like Waltz, Liu, and Hoffman can’t do anything but make this somewhat more watchable, although you know what’s going to happen every step of the way.
If there’s any word that describes ‘Old Guy,’ it’s “unambitious.” As we suggested earlier, this is the kind of movie that ends up as streaming fodder, perfect for background noise on a weekend afternoon while you do other things. It’s a shame that the cast and filmmakers can’t do much to rise above that.
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What is the plot of ‘Old Guy’?
An aging assassin (Christoph Waltz ) is teamed up by his boss with a younger, brasher killer (Cooper Hoffman) to ostensibly train him, but suspects that he’s ultimately going to be ‘retired’ by his prodigal partner. The two must work together to stay alive, however, when they’re betrayed from within the company itself.
(L to R) Lucy Liu and Christoph Waltz in the Action/Comedy film ‘Old Guy’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Christoph Waltz and Lucy Liu about their work on ‘Old Guy’, their first reactions to the screenplay, their characters, Danny and Anata’s friendship, Danny’s reluctant partnership with his replacement, and working with Cooper Hoffman.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews.
Christoph Waltz in the Action/Comedy film ‘Old Guy’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
Moviefone: To begin with, Christoph, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and what appealed to you about playing this character?
Christoph Waltz: Frankly, it’s been a while, so I don’t really recall my first reaction, but somewhere during the events I must have thought, “Yeah, I can do that.” I liked that he’s old and that he must deal with it. He does and that’s inspiring. I’m practicing.
MF: Lucy, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and what was your approach to playing Anata?
Lucy Liu: Well, knowing that Christoph was already connected to the movie was exciting to me. When I read the role of Anata, I really thought that she was just the right amount of condiment in the movie. They didn’t need a lot more. The amount of spice that she added and the connection that she had was enough. Because a lot of people said, “It’s a smaller role.” But I think that the relationship is really between him and Wihlborg. I liked that she was not the main event and that she came on board and was sort of the third wheel, and that it became something much deeper. I also love the idea of doing independent movies. It gets less diluted because sometimes when you’re working on a bigger movie, there’s so many people giving their thoughts and their opinions, it starts to lose what you originally read. I think Simon was able to hold onto what he had originally.
Lucy Liu in the Action/Comedy film ‘Old Guy’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
MF: Lucy, can you talk about Anata’s friendship with Danny and what she sees in him?
LL: I think she’s great. She’s very raw, and I think she doesn’t want to be vulnerable, but it turns out that she is, and it hurts. I think she’s passed her prime, and I think that when that gentleman says to her, “We can still go back to the hotel,” she realizes he just thinks of her as a prostitute, nothing more than that. Like a good time and it really destroys her and breaks her heart.
MF: Christoph, can you talk about Danny’s reluctant partnership with Wihlborg, who is the person sent to replace him?
CW: I can, but you won’t understand. You’re too young. The moment comes when you’re being pushed aside, and not because you’re lacking anything other than maybe muscle tone. But you have more experience, you have seen how the world works, all of that. Yet you’re being pushed aside because someone just is younger than you are, which is not a good reason. Interestingly in industry, and I hesitate to say normal society because I think that concept is going out the window, but in any case, in our lives, you see that. Sure enough, youth does have to take over sooner or later. That does not necessarily mean that the generation above must be pushed aside. Those are the reasonable arguments. The unreasonable emotional argument is, it hurts to be discarded, to be thrown on the heap with the rest of the old iron. It hurts and it’s difficult to come to terms with that hurt.
Cooper Hoffman in the Action/Comedy film ‘Old Guy’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
MF: Finally, Christoph, what was it like working with Cooper Hoffman?
CW: Same thing. Same thing, by the way.
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What is the plot of ‘Old Guy’?
An aging assassin (Christoph Waltz ) is teamed up by his boss with a younger, brasher killer (Cooper Hoffman) to ostensibly train him, but suspects that he’s ultimately going to be ‘retired’ by his prodigal partner. The two must work together to stay alive, however, when they’re betrayed from within the company itself.
(L to R) Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart in ‘Olympus Has Fallen.’ Photo: Millennium Films.
Written by ‘Miranda’s Victim’ scripter J. Craig Stiles, ‘Raider’ tells the story of a president, sworn in after a landslide victory, who discovers that the White House has been controlled by an elite shadow organization for decades.
Refusing to bow to their demands or comply with the head of the Secret Service (Danny Huston), the president works to unravel a series of cryptic messages left by his predecessors hoping they are the key to freeing his family and the country from dark forces.
Here’s what producer Steve Lee Jones said about the casting:
“Our lead is a classy and honorable man who puts country first, despite the risks and impossible odds. When he realizes what’s at stake, he simply says, ‘No.’ We’re very excited to be working with Aaron again and I can’t imagine a better fit than Simon West to bring this pulse-pounding thriller home in spades.”
Fellow producer Matthew Shreder compared the movie to ‘Air Force One’ and ‘The Da Vinci Code’. This is what he said about Eckhart:
“People have come to love seeing Aaron take control, and this elevates that to an entirely new level.”
Who is making ‘Raider’?
(L to R) Nicolas Cage and John Malkovich in ‘Con Air’. Photo: Touchstone Pictures.
‘Raider’ has engaged the services of a filmmaker who has proved he can handle action in the past: Simon West, who directed ‘Con Air’ and ‘The Expendables 2’, will be putting Eckhart through his paces for the new movie.
The movie is scheduled to start shooting this fall in Spain.
Possibly our biggest question is whether Eckhart’s character will do well without ‘Olympus/London Has Fallen’s Gerard Butler to watch his back. We know Eckhart can take care of himself, so we have hope.
When will ‘Raider’ be in theaters?
Bee Holder Productions and Concourse Media are producing this one (with Concourse handling sales of the film at the Cannes Market), but with no distribution deals in place, there is no word on when the movie will be in theaters.
Aaron Eckhart in ‘Chief of Station’. Photo: Vertical Entertainment.
