Dave Bautista Reveals ‘Dune 2’ Used Recycled Footage

It wasn’t the action that piqued Dave Bautista’s interest in The Killer Game; it was an opportunity to play a true romantic lead for the very first time. Like many actors, Bautista is most intrigued by roles that scare him, and so the chance to play love-struck assassin Joe Flood was something he’d committed to on and off since 2019. Based on The Killer Game In Jay Bonansinga’s novel, Flood is diagnosed with a neurodegenerative brain disease that gives him only months to live. So he takes out a policy on his own life so that the love of his life, Maize (Sofia Boutella), can collect her life insurance. The problem is, he’s been misdiagnosed by three different labs and it’s too late to cancel the policy.

The film adaptation of The Killer Game went through nearly three decades of development, with names like Wesley Snipes, Michael Keaton, and Jason Statham coming and going. However, the project finally gained momentum when Lionsgate acquired the distribution rights in 2023, in the midst of a strike. Day shift Director JJ Perry will helm the Budapest-set action comedy through a SAG-AFTRA interim deal.

But knowing that Perry had just shot a vampire action movie with Jamie Foxx and had cut his teeth in the world of stunts and second unit alongside John Wick Co-creator Chad Stahelski, Bautista was initially concerned that he and Perry would disagree on the film’s romantic direction.

“When we first spoke, before I said anything, [Perry] “I thought, ‘Look, man, the best thing about this, and what’s going to set us apart, is the romance at the heart of this story.’ And I just let out a huge sigh of relief. I was like, ‘Thank God,'” Bautista says. The Hollywood Reporter.

The next hurdle was finding the right Maize, and Bautista had always imagined Boutella as the accomplished ballet dancer who becomes Flood’s girlfriend. The two actors met on the set of Drew Pearce’s film Artemis Hotel and although they didn’t interact on screen, they quickly became friends in the makeup trailer. He even supported her Rebel Moon casting to Zack Snyder when the director first asked him for his thoughts on filming in 2019 Army of the Dead. Eventually, Bautista became so insistent about casting Boutella that he didn’t let his scheduling conflict get in the way.

“They offered me other actresses, but I kept turning them down, saying, ‘No, I can’t get used to the idea of ​​any other actress than Sofia,’” Bautista says. “So I said, ‘Let’s not look for another actress. Let’s just try to change the schedule so Sofia can work.’ It took a lot of effort from producers, agents and managers, and Sofia agreed to travel back and forth between Budapest and London while she was on two projects.”

Bautista also participated in his Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2…