Plot

Michael Bryce, temporarily retired from being a bodyguard while he awaits reinstatement of his license, tries to clear his mind in on vacation in Capri until Sonia Kincaid tracks him down and asks for his services. She needs his help in recovering her hitman husband Darius, after mobsters kidnap him.

After saving Darius, Bryce and Kincaid are caught by Interpol agent Bobby O’Neill, who needs their help in locating terrorist mastermind Aristotle Papadopoulos. He wants to destroy the European power grid and infrastructure as the European Union is planning to impose more sanctions on Greece.

The trio gets into more trouble, with Bryce taking much of the physical brunt of their encounters. After getting help from his bodyguard stepfather, Bryce Senior, the trio is captured by Aristotle’s henchmen. He has a history with Sonia; Aristotle was conned by her even though he genuinely fell in love with her.

Aristotle turns Sonia against Darius, so he and Bryce are forced to flee. Senior is revealed to be working with Aristotle and betrays Bryce. Bryce and Kincaid compose themselves and work together to rescue Sonia and thwart Aristotle.

After killing Aristotle’s henchmen, Darius and Bryce disrupt his plan to drill into and damage the European power grid and communications and fight Aristotle and Senior. Bryce kills Senior after telling him about his eternal loyalty and friendship with Kincaid, while Kincaid and Sonia kill Aristotle.

Bryce manages to hit the manual override to destroy the ship and stop the drill, and the three survive the explosion. O’Neill says they have to stay on the boat for 48 hours together before being cleared and free, then hands Bryce papers to sign, which he thinks is his bodyguard license.

Bryce signs them only to find out they are adoption papers for him to become the son of Sonia and Kincaid, much to the horror of both Bryce and Kincaid. Bryce despondently jumps off the yacht he is piloting while Sonia and Darius have sex inside.

Cast

• Ryan Reynolds as Michael Bryce, Michael Sr.’s stepson and a bodyguard-for-hire on mandatory sabbatical which leaves him without the authority to use lethal weaponry.
  • Ivor Bagaric as young Michael Bryce
• Samuel L. Jackson as Darius Kincaid, a world renowned hitman.
• Salma Hayek as Sonia Kincaid, Darius’ wife.
• Frank Grillo as Bobby O’Neill, a Boston-based agent working with Interpol.
• Antonio Banderas as Aristotle Papadopoulos, a Greek shipping tycoon.
• Morgan Freeman as Michael Bryce Sr., Michael’s stepfather and Papadopoulos’ head of security.
• Richard E. Grant as Mr. Seifert, an old associate of Bryce and a drug addict.
• Tom Hopper as Magnusson, a famous bodyguard employed by Papadopoulos.
• Kristofer Kamiyasu as Zento, a famous Japanese hitman employed by Papadopoulos.
• Caroline Goodall as Superintendent Crowley, a senior Interpol agent.
• Alice McMillan as Ailso, Crowley’s Scottish Interpol translator and O’Neill’s assistant.
• Gabriella Wright as Veronika
• Dragan Mićanović as Vlad
• Rebecca Front as Michael’s therapist
• Blake Ritson as Gunther
• Miltos Yerolemou as Carlo

Gary Oldman is briefly seen as Vladislav Dukhovich through archive footage from the first film. Additionally, director Patrick Hughes appears as a bouncer at the club.

Production

In May 2018, it was announced that Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, and Salma Hayek were in early talks to reprise their roles for a sequel to the 2017 film The Hitman’s Bodyguard, with plans to begin filming later in the year. While Lionsgate was in talks to secure the United States distribution rights, Patrick Hughes was also in talks to return for directing duties. In November 2018, Lionsgate acquired the US rights from Millennium Films, while Matt O’Toole and Les Weldon would produce the film through Millennium and Campbell Grobman Films, and Hughes would return to direct the film from the script by Tom O’Connor, Brandon Murphy and Phillip Murphy. Reynolds, Jackson, and Hayek also officially signed on to star in the sequel. In March 2019, Frank Grillo, Morgan Freeman, Antonio Banderas and Tom Hopper joined the cast of the film, with Richard E. Grant reprising his role from the first.

Filming began on March 2, 2019, in Europe. Filming took place in Italy (Trieste), Croatia (Rovinj, Rijeka, Karlovac, Zagreb, Jastrebarsko, Pisarovina, Motovun, Buje, Vodnjan, Lim Channel and Biševo), Slovenia, Bulgaria and United Kingdom.

Release

Lionsgate Films released the film on June 16, 2021, after being previously delayed to August 20, 2021, from an original release date of August 28, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reception

Future

In June 2021, Patrick Hughes stated that a third film is in development with the basic plot including an additional main cast member, already mapped out. By July, the filmmaker acknowledged that the end of the film leaves opportunity open for additional installments. Hughes stated: “the ending of this film lends itself to more suffering for Michael Bryce, so that can continue for eternity because I certainly love watching Ryan suffer. If there’s potential to do it further, then we certainly are going to pursue that.”