An action movie featuring the woman who defeated the Predator in Prey and the towering lead of Prime Video's Reacher, penned by the mastermind behind John Wick, and directed by the stunt coordinator for Logan and Avatar: The Way Of Water, might seem like a wild genre fantasy, but it's actually happening—and it could be the next big action franchise. According to Deadline, Amber Midthunder, known for her role in Prey, and Alan Ritchson, the real-life Jack Reacher, are set to star in Painter, a new action film written by Derek Kolstad and directed by genre expert Garrett Warren.
Scheduled for sales at the American Film Market next week, Painter—as described by Deadline—centers around a highly trained young woman (Midthunder) who must utilize her skills when her father (presumably Ritchson) is kidnapped. Conceptually, it sounds like a reverse Taken, but for Infrared's President of Production, Drew Simon, the film is an opportunity to establish Amber Midthunder as a fully-fledged franchise heroine. "Painter will be a seminal action hero film, transforming Midthunder into this generation’s Sarah Connor," Simon stated, drawing a parallel to Linda Hamilton's iconic Terminator role. "We were captivated by Kolstad's high-octane script, and we know that with Garrett Warren at the helm, this film will launch a thrilling new franchise in the action genre."
While the cast additions for Painter remain unknown, both Midthunder and Ritchson have exciting projects on the horizon. Midthunder recently joined the Season 2 cast of Apple TV+'s MonsterVerse spin-off Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters, while Ritchson is set to reprise his role as Jack Reacher in Reacher Season 4, confirmed by Amazon just a few weeks ago. Should Painter become a franchise, the sequel titles are already in the works: the dark sequel, Painter 2: A Brush With Death; a trip to Ireland for the third installment, Painter 3: Oil Be Back; and the inevitable soft reboot, P4INTER: Blank Canvas. We eagerly await our royalty checks.
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