It’s been a long time since the presence of Arnold Schwarzenegger in a movie cast prompted anything but panic, but it sounds like Taran Killam may have cracked the code. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the ex-governor will appear in the title role of Killam’s directorial debut, Why We’re Killing Gunther. Besides Schwartzenegger and Killam, the ensemble cast will include Killam’s Saturday Night Live castmate Bobby Moynihan, Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani, and Killam’s wife, The Avengers’ Cobie Smulders.
Schwarzenegger will play the world’s greatest assassin, whose showboating and arrogance prompts the other top hit men to try to bump him off. But he proves to be a more formidable opponent than they’d anticipated, which should provide plenty of opportunity for groan-worthy one-liners. It sounds like a comedy set in the world of John Wick, which featured an assassins-only hotel—run by Ian McShane, no less—that was already half-comedy to begin with. Having recently revisited one of Schwarzenegger’s great gonzo performances from his heyday, I think this idea sounds like it has a lot of potential. The film will be produced by Tarran Killam, Kim Leadford, Ash Sarohia, and Steve Squillante. North American distribution rights are being handled by UTA, so it’s not too late for any Slate-reading studio heads to make a phone call.
