MOVIE NEWS – Ryan Reynolds is lining up to inherit a role made famous by Clint Eastwood. Per The Hollywood Reporter, he is partnering with Amazon MGM Studios on a fresh take on the 1974 action comedy Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.

Beyond producing and likely starring, Reynolds is weighing in on the script too. Writing duties fall to Enzo Mileti and Scott Wilson, alumni of the TV adaptation of Fargo. The feature will mark the directing debut of Shane Reid, who recently served as editor on the MCU behemoth Deadpool & Wolverine.

The lingering question is whether this becomes the project that pairs Reynolds with Hugh Jackman outside the Marvel sandbox. The premise leans into the same banter and energy that powered their billion dollar outing, and audiences are hungry for another team-up – a separate boy-band comedy is already in motion. Would it feel too close to Deadpool & Wolverine to fly? Maybe, but Hollywood has rarely shied away from doubling down on proven chemistry, and these two have it in spades.

What Is Thunderbolt and Lightfoot About?

The title doesn’t give much away, which is why plenty of viewers may have skipped the original. Here’s the gist: freewheeling drifter Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges) collides with legendary thief Thunderbolt (Clint Eastwood) while the latter is on the run. Thunderbolt’s former partners, Red (George Kennedy) and Eddie (Geoffrey Lewis), suspect he sold them out after a Montana vault heist years earlier. Once Thunderbolt clears his name, Lightfoot proposes the unthinkable – assemble the gang and rob the exact same bank again.

The marketing leaned hard on Eastwood’s tough-guy aura – the poster practically echoes Dirty Harry with a gun aimed straight at you. Tonally, though, it plays more like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: a breezy buddy caper with a late-game sting that blindsides many first-time viewers.

The 1974 release was a hit, spinning a $2 million budget into roughly $25 million worldwide, and it holds a strong 89% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. Does that make a Reynolds-led redo feel doomed beneath a towering legacy? Possibly – but that rarely stops studios from reviving recognizable IP.

No production window has been announced yet, so it will likely be a couple of years before the remake reaches cinemas.

Source: MovieWeb