Patrick Hughes hasn’t managed to recapture the critical acclaim that greeted his feature directorial debut Red Hill, an uncompromising and hard-hitting Western that garnered strong notices from critics, but he’s since evolved into one of Hollywood’s go-to guys for mid budget action movies packing plenty of star power.
Having helmed The Expendables 3, The Hitman’s Bodyguard and sequel Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, the latter two of which opened at the top of the domestic box office, Hughes recently saw his next feature The Man from Toronto hit with a delay, so audiences won’t get to see the Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson odd couple action comedy until next summer.
However, the filmmaker isn’t wasting any time settling on his next project, with Variety reporting that Hughes will write and direct high concept sci-fi War Machine, which may need a title change so as not to become confused with the forgotten Brad Pitt satire that sank without a trace on Netflix in 2017.
Details are scarce, but the premise revolves around a group of recruits who encounter a dangerous and deadly force not of this world while embarking on the final stages of a special ops boot camp. There’s definitely shades of The Tomorrow War in the premise, but if Hughes can put an interesting spin on the material, War Machine could be one worth keeping an eye on as it moves forward through development.