{{Short description|2020 film by Matt Eskandari}} {{Use American English|date=March 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox film | image = Hard_kill_xlg.jpg | alt = | caption = Promotional release poster | director = Matt Eskandari | screenplay = {{Plainlist| * Joe Russo * Chris LaMont }} | story = {{Plainlist| * Nikolai From * Clayton Haugen }} | producer = {{Plainlist| * Randall Emmett * George Furla * Shaun Sanghani * Alex Eckert * Tim Sullivan * Mark Stewart }} | starring = {{Plainlist| * Jesse Metcalfe * Bruce Willis * Natalie Eva Marie * Lala Kent * Texas Battle * Swen Temmel * Sergio Rizzulto * Tyler Jon Olson * Jon Galanis }} | cinematography = Bryan Koss | editing = R.J. Cooper | music = Rhyan D'Errico | production_companies = {{Plainlist| * Emmett Furla Oasis Films * SSS Entertainment }} | distributor = Vertical Entertainment | released = {{Film date|2020|8|21}} | runtime = 98 minutes<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/hard-kill-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc00otk4oda|title=Hard Kill|website=British Board of Film Classification}}</ref> | country = United States | language = English | gross = $111,523<ref name="BOM">{{cite web |url= https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt11656172/?ref_=bo_se_r_1 |title= Hard Kill (2020) |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=October 29, 2020}}</ref><ref name="NUM">{{cite web |title=Hard Kill (2020) - Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Hard-Kill-(2020)#tab=summary |website=The Numbers |publisher=Nash Information Services, LLC |access-date=26 March 2025}}</ref> }}
'''''Hard Kill''''' is a 2020 American action thriller film directed by Matt Eskandari, starring Jesse Metcalfe, Bruce Willis, Natalie Eva Marie, Lala Kent, Texas Battle, Swen Temmel, Sergio Rizzulto, Tyler Jon Olson, and Jon Galanis.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rice|first=Briana|title=Bruce Willis is returning to Cincinnati to film another movie|date=30 January 2020|publisher=The Cincinnati Enquirer|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2020/01/30/bruce-willis-cincinnati-film/2854126001/|access-date=31 January 2020}}</ref> The film follows a CEO who hires a group of mercenaries to retrieve both a piece of technology and his kidnapped daughter. It was released on August 21, 2020, by Vertical Entertainment, and was critically panned.
==Plot== Upset that her revolutionary technology will be misused for military purposes, Eva Chalmers approaches an extremist known as the Pardoner, who promises to help her use it to save the world. When she balks at his terrorist plans, he takes her hostage and attempts to coerce her father, Donovan, into revealing the code to activate it. Donovan hires a team of mercenaries led by Derek Miller to rescue Eva and recover the tech.
==Cast== * Jesse Metcalfe as Derek Miller<ref>{{cite web|title='Yippee ki yay!': Bruce Willis back in Cincinnati to shoot another film|date=30 January 2020|publisher=WCPO-TV|url=https://www.wcpo.com/entertainment/movies/yippee-ki-yay-bruce-willis-coming-back-to-cincinnati-to-shoot-another-film|access-date=31 January 2020}}</ref> * Bruce Willis as Donovan Chalmers<ref>{{cite web|date=30 January 2020|title=Bruce Willis is shooting a movie in Cincinnati -- again|url=https://www.wlwt.com/article/bruce-willis-is-shooting-a-movie-in-cincinnati-again/30715992|access-date=31 January 2020|publisher=WLWT}}</ref> * Natalie Eva Marie as Sasha<ref>{{cite web|last=Kiesewetter|first=John|title=Bruce Willis Shooting Fourth Movie In Cincinnati|date=30 January 2020|publisher=WVXU|url=https://www.wvxu.org/post/bruce-willis-shooting-fourth-movie-cincinnati#stream/0|access-date=31 January 2020}}</ref> * Lala Kent as Eva Chalmers<ref>{{cite web|title=Bruce Willis filming his third movie in Cincinnati|date=30 January 2020|publisher=WKRC-TV|url=https://local12.com/news/local/bruce-willis-filming-his-third-movie-in-cincinnati|access-date=31 January 2020}}</ref> * Texas Battle as Nicholas Fox * Swen Temmel as Dash Hawkins * Sergio Rizzuto as the Pardoner * Tyler Jon Olson as Lt. Colton * Jon Galanis as Harrison Zindel * Jacquie Nguyen as Gemma * Leslee Emmett as Crystal
==Production== Principal photography began in January 2020 in Cincinnati,<ref>{{cite web|title=Bruce Willis filming new movie in Cincinnati|date=30 January 2020|publisher=WXIX-TV|url=https://www.fox19.com/2020/01/30/bruce-willis-filming-new-movie-cincinnati/|access-date=31 January 2020}}</ref> under the working title ''Open Source''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Grater|first=Tom|title=Bruce Willis Thriller 'Open Source' Sells To Vertical Entertainment|date=19 February 2020|publisher=The Cincinnati Enquirer|url=https://deadline.com/2020/02/bruce-willis-thriller-open-source-vertical-entertainment-1202863462/|access-date=1 March 2020}}</ref> According to the ''Los Angeles Times'' and actress Lala Kent, an incident occurred on set when co-star Bruce Willis accidentally fired a prop gun loaded with blanks on the wrong cue and repeated the same error during a second take. Nobody was injured, but the situation reportedly left some crew members "shaken". ''Hard Kill'' is one of the last films to star Willis, who retired from acting because he was diagnosed with aphasia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-03-30/bruce-willis-aphasia-memory-loss-cognitive-disorder|url-access=limited|title=Concerns about Bruce Willis' declining cognitive state swirled around sets in recent years|date=March 30, 2022|first1=Meg|last1=James|first2=Amy|last2=Kaufman|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=May 18, 2022}}</ref>
==Release== ''Hard Kill'' was simultaneously released in limited theaters and video on-demand in the United States on August 21, 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theslanted.com/2020/07/41775/bruce-willis-hard-kill-digital-release-date/|title=Bruce Willis' 'Hard Kill' Goes Digital in August|work=The Slanted|first=John|last=Stewart|date=July 18, 2020|access-date=August 18, 2020|archive-date=April 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420203032/https://theslanted.com/2020/07/41775/bruce-willis-hard-kill-digital-release-date/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="collider">{{cite web|last=Foutch|first=Haleigh|title=Bruce Willis Is a Billionaire Breaking out the Big Guns in Exclusive 'Hard Kill' Trailer|date=July 16, 2020|publisher=Collider|url=https://collider.com/bruce-willis-hard-kill-trailer/|access-date=July 16, 2020}}</ref> It then became available to stream on Netflix in the USA on November 23, 2020, and was the top streamed film for several weeks.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bean|first=Travis|title=New Movies On Netflix This Week|date=November 23, 2020|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbean/2020/11/23/new-movies-on-netflix-this-week/?sh=413cd87b72ff|access-date=November 25, 2020}}</ref>
===Box office=== As of October 29, 2020, ''Hard Kill'' grossed $111,523 in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam.<ref name="BOM"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ksa.voxcinemas.com/movies/comingsoon|title = Upcoming Movies in Saudi Arabia Cinemas | VOX Cinemas KSA}}</ref>
==Reception== {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|0|2.7|20|ref=yes|access-date=March 3, 2025}}
Frank Scheck of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' said that Willis "seems to have settled on making listless appearances in forgettable B-movie action movies as a retirement funding plan". He said that although Metcalfe "boasts the appropriate physicality" for his role, he is "unable to summon sufficient charisma to make his character remotely interesting". Scheck called the other performances "equally lackluster" except for Marie, who "makes for a convincing female badass".<ref name="THRreview">{{cite web |title='Hard Kill': Film Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hard-kill-film-review |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=25 August 2020 |access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref> Kevin Maher of ''The Times'' gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "I can only hope that Bruce Willis managed to squeeze a house out of the producers of this breathtakingly poor mess about a, ahem, 'quantum' military computer program that can either destroy the world or save it."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maher |first=Kevin |date=September 12, 2020 |title=Hard Kill review — a martial mess of quantum nonsense |language=en |work=The Times |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/hard-kill-review-a-martial-mess-of-quantum-nonsense-2nphf5zd8 |access-date=2023-01-27 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref>
===Accolades=== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |- ! scope="col" | Award ! scope="col" | Category ! scope="col" | Recipient(s) ! scope="col" | Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable"| {{Abbr|Ref.|References}} |- | Golden Raspberry Awards | Worst Supporting Actor | Bruce Willis {{Small|(also for ''Breach'' and ''Survive the Night'')}} | {{nom}} | "align=center"| <ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/razzies-nominations-dolittle-sia-music-365-days-2021-1140766|title='Dolittle,' Sia's 'Music,' '365 Days' Lead 2021 Razzie Awards Nominees|magazine=Rolling Stone|last=Kreps|first=Daniel|date=March 12, 2021|access-date=March 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312190325/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/razzies-nominations-dolittle-sia-music-365-days-2021-1140766/|archive-date=March 12, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> |}
==See also== * List of films with a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|11656172}}
{{Matt Eskandari}} {{Authority control}} {{Portal bar|Film|United States|Technology}}
Category:2020 films Category:2020 independent films Category:American action thriller films Category:Films directed by Matt Eskandari Category:Films shot in Ohio Category:Vertical (film company) films Category:2020 English-language films Category:2020 American films Category:American independent films Category:English-language action thriller films Category:English-language independent films