Moviefone Editorial

Tag: The Contractor

  • Chris Pine Starring in ‘Nowhere Fast’

    Chris Pine plays Edgin in 'Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves' from Paramount Pictures and eOne.
    Chris Pine plays Edgin in ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ from Paramount Pictures and eOne.

    Preview:

    • Chris Pine is to lead ‘Nowhere Fast.’
    • He’ll play a small-time crook in the new thriller.
    • ‘Fargo’ boss Noah Hawley is writing and directing the movie.

    Chris Pine, it would appear loves a good Texas-set crime thriller where characters get in over their heads in a dangerous situation.

    He played a desperate rancher-turned-bank robber in 2016’s ‘Hell or High Water’ and, per Variety, now he’s landed the lead role of a small-time crook in new thriller ‘Nowhere Fast.’

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    And there are further connections beyond the locale and the (relatively) recent time period –– while the 2016 effort was scripted by Taylor Sheridan, currently the overlord of rugged television thanks to his ever-expanding ‘Yellowstone’ franchise and other projects, this new film comes via Noah Hawley, no stranger to small screen success himself thanks to ‘Fargo’ and ‘Legion.’

    And ‘Nowhere Fast’ certainly feels fairly locked into Pine’s wheelhouse –– while he has done some bigger movies, he’s often found in smaller titles that give him a chance to stretch himself.

    Related Article: Director Chris Pine and Danny DeVito Talk Comedy/Mystery ‘Poolman’

    What’s the story of ‘Nowhere Fast’?

    Chris Pine in 'Poolman'. Photo: Vertical Entertainment.
    Chris Pine in ‘Poolman’. Photo: Vertical Entertainment.

    With Hawley writing and aiming to direct, the film will follow a criminal who inadvertently kills the nephew of his boss in Texas.

    Sounds to us like Pine will be a man with a decent core who has turn to crime and ends up confronting, the arrogant, violent spawn of his overseer. Isn’t that usually how these things end up going? Plus he might try to get away, but the movie’s title suggest he won’t have too much luck.

    Hawley will also produce via his 26 Keys Productions with the funding coming from 30West, which financed Pine’s ‘The Contractor,’ looking to co-represent the U.S. rights for ‘Nowhere Fast’ alongside CAA Media Finance. AGC International, the international sales arm of independent studio AGC Studios, will represent the foreign rights.

    What else is Chris Pine attached to?

    Chris Pine in 2009's 'Star Trek'. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
    Chris Pine in 2009’s ‘Star Trek’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

    Pine has been somewhat quiet in the last year –– his only efforts recently have been a BMW ad and narration duties on an upcoming short about birds.

    Before that he impressed as the seemingly benevolent-but-secretly-scheming king in Disney’s ‘Wish’ (which didn’t exactly set the box office aflame) and also tried his hand at writing and directing himself in the poorly-received ‘Poolman.’

    Currently, the actor is at work on a new drama called ‘The Kidnapping of Arabella’ about an Italian woman named Holly who is convinced she’s the wrong version of herself until meeting a 7-year-old girl changes her perspective. That one is written and directed by Carolina Cavalli.

    But perhaps what most fans want to know is whether Pine will finally return alongside his castmates for another ‘Star Trek’ movie set in the “Kelvin Timeline” established by J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot of the classic sci-fi show in big screen form.

    When asked by Business Insider about the status of it, Pine had this to say:

    “I honestly don’t know. There was something in the news of a new writer coming on board. I thought there was already a script, but I guess I was wrong, or they decided to pivot. As it’s always been with ‘Trek,’ I just wait and see.”

    The fourth ‘Trek’ outing with Pine and co. is listed as in pre-production on the IMDb, but like them, we’ll have to see if that pans out into an actual movie.

    What else does Noah Hawley have going on?

    Xenomorph in 20th Century Studios' 'Alien: Romulus.' Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
    Xenomorph in 20th Century Studios’ ‘Alien: Romulus.’ Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

    You might wonder how Hawley has time for a movie project given how much TV work he’s involved with. While it’s certainly less than Sheridan’s sprawling empire, it’s not nothing.

    In addition to the ongoing crime calamities of ‘Fargo’ (inspired, of course, by the Coen brothers classic and using an anthology format per season with the occasional link to tell stories of bungled robberies etc.), he’s also been busy overseeing an ambitious extension of another franchise.

    This summer will see the launch of his new FX/Hulu series ‘Alien: Earth,’ which is set closer to the present day than any of the movies about rampaging xenomorphs.

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    With ‘Alien’ director (and franchise gatekeeper) Ridley Scott giving the project his endorsement as an executive producer the new show tracks what happens when a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth. A young woman and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat.

    The likes of Timothy Olyphant, Sydney Chandler, Essie Davis and Alex Lawther are aboard the show.

    Here’s what Hawley has said about Alien: Earth:

    “There’s something about seeing a Xenomorph in the wilds of Earth with your own eyes. That is truly chilling to think of it moving here among us, and so I can’t tell you under what circumstances you’ll see that, but you’ll see it — and you’re going to lock your door that night.”

    When will ‘Nowhere Fast’ be in theaters?

    With the movie still at the casting stage and rights on sale, there is no word yet on when this new crime thriller might be making its way to theaters.

    We’d guess it could start shooting –– even given Hawley’s packed schedule –– this year and could potentially be out by awards season, but seems more likely to arrive in 2026.

    Chris Pine stars in 'Wish.'
    Chris Pine stars in ‘Wish.’

    Other Chris Pine Movies:

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  • Chris Pine Talks ‘The Contractor’

    Chris Pine in dark
    Chris Pine in ‘The Contractor.’ Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

    Opening in theaters and On-Demand beginning April 1st is the new action movie ‘The Contractor,’ from director Tarik Saleh (‘Westworld’).

    The movie stars Chris Pine (‘Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit‘) as James Harper, a discharged U.S. Special Forces sergeant who joins a private contracting organization. While overseas on a covert mission, he must evade those trying to kill him and make his way back home safely to his family.

    The film reunites Pine with his ‘Hell or High Water‘ co-star Ben Foster, and also features Gillian Jacobs (‘Hot Tub Time Machine 2‘), Eddie Marsan (‘The World’s End‘), and Kiefer Sutherland (‘24‘).

    Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Chris Pine about his work on ‘The Contractor.’

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    You can read our full interview with Chris Pine below or watch a video of our interviews with Pine and director Tarik Saleh about ‘The Contractor’ by clicking on the player above.

    Moviefone: To begin with, what was your first reaction when you read the script for ‘The Contractor?’

    Chris Pine: I was really moved by it. I thought it was a really poetic and sensitive take on a genre piece. It’s really a character study that’s masquerading as an action thriller film. I thought it was a great opportunity to have something that was highly commercial and accessible, but also required people to really think and that intrigued me.

    MF: Can you talk about the research you did to play this role?

    CP: I spent about three months with a guy, Chris Dunn, out in the desert here in Los Angeles, working, doing close quarters combat and weapons training. I met with Bert Kuntz, who was our technical advisor, who’s a green beret and medic. I read a ton of books and investigated the script with Bert to make sure that things seemed real. That was what I did.

    MF: What do you think your character would say is the most important aspect of his life?

    CP: That’s a difficult question. I think at first it would be family, God, and country. But by the end of the film it’s just family.

    MF: There is a lot of action in the film. Do you do your own stunts and how do you prepare for those scenes?

    CP: I generally do everything that I can, that the insurance company will allow me to do. I had an incredible stunt double with whom I’ve worked for many years. But everything is different. It depends on how they want to shoot it. It depends on the time we have. It depends on so many things, but this one was a particularly brutal shoot.

    Chris Pine and Ben Foster playing catch
    (L to R) Chris Pine and Ben Foster in ‘The Contractor.’ Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

    MF: You reunite with your ‘Hell or High Water’ co-star Ben Foster for this movie. What do you like about working with him, and what is the relationship like between your two characters?

    CP: It’s always great working with Ben. I wish I could work with Ben on most things I do. It’s nice to go to work with someone whom you have great respect, who you like and who gets the work the same way you do and wants to achieve the same things. We have a shorthand. Obviously, we didn’t have much time on this film. We didn’t have much money. We didn’t have an incredible amount of rehearsal time. So, to get to go to work, get to set, and hit the ground running was really important.

    MF: Were you involved with choosing Tarik Saleh to direct this movie?

    CP: Yes. 100%. I’d seen ‘The Nile Hilton Incident’ and I absolutely loved it. It’s an Egyptian police noir, starring Fares Fares, who shows up in our film. I think he’s incredibly talented. I heard that he was interested in the script. We met in New York very briefly and then we were off to the races.

    MF: What was he like to work with on set?

    CP: Tarik is wonderful. He’s incredibly collaborative. He trusted me a great deal. We really just picked this thing apart as my much as we could to figure out the emotional arc and through line of it. It was tricky work and it wouldn’t have worked unless we had open minds. It took me, Tarik, Ben and everyone involved trying to say, “Well, how does this work? Does it, does this make sense?”

    Director Tarik Saleh
    Director Tarik Saleh on set of ‘The Contractor.’ Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

    MF: Finally, what do you hope audiences take away from seeing the film?

    CP: Really this is a story about one man dealing with the effects of his world being turned upside down. We would never see this man losing his job, losing his pension, losing his healthcare and going to do anything else but being a military contractor. That’s the hard thing. Here’s a guy that is, in terms of the amount of money they spend on one of these highly trained warriors, it’s millions of dollars. They are a weapon.

    After a twenty some odd years of service as a highly trained weapon, you then get out into the real world and if you’re facing financial troubles, you don’t have enough time to get yourself out of the muck by working a normal job. Whereas you can go and make really incredible money doing something you’re passionate about that you’re highly trained and qualified for. It seemed to make a lot of logical sense, making that move for James.

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