Luke Wilson Cast In New Action Film Alongside Star Of Rocky
Luke's about to get some fight on!
Luke Wilson has been a superhero dad on Stargirl, he’s been a hunky sheriff on one of the best episodes ever of The X-Files, and he helped bring comedy favorites like Old School and Legally Blonde to life. He hasn’t done a lot in the action genre, but apparently that’s about to change. Wilson will be starring in the upcoming action flick The Best Man and it looks like he’ll be facing none other than Rocky IV‘s Ivan Drago himself — Dolph Lundgren.
That’s the news from The Hollywood Reporter this week; Luke Wilson will star alongside Dolph Lundgren and Scout Taylor-Compton (Halloween, 2007) in the indie action thriller. According to THR, The Best Man is set on a resort where a wedding is taken hostage by mercenaries. The wedding’s groom, the groom’s best friend, and the best man join forces to take down the bad guys. Shane Dax Taylor (Masquerade) is directing. The screenplay is written by C. Alec Rossel (Served Cold) from a story by Daniel Zirilli (Acceleration). The worldwide distribution rights for The Best Man were acquired by Saban Films. There’s no release date announced yet.
There’s no word in THR’s story about who will be playing who in The Best Man, but unless the filmmakers have decided to cast hard against type, Luke Wilson will either be the eponymous hero or one of his buddies. Lundgren, in the meantime, seems a likely choice for the leader of the mercenaries. Taylor-Compton will probably either be the bride, the groom’s best friend, or another wedding guest.
The premise actually sounds suspiciously similar to another higher profile film that will be released in only a few months. At the end of June, Shotgun Wedding will hit theaters — starring Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers) and Josh Duhamel (Transformers) as a couple whose remote destination wedding is interrupted by gun-toting bad guys who take the wedding hostage. From the description of the flick, it seems like main difference between it and The Best Man is tone. The Luke Wilson flick so far seems like straight action fare, while Shotgun Wedding will be part romantic comedy. Shotgun Wedding will also star Cheech Marin (Up in Smoke), Jennifer Coolidge (Best in Show), and singer-songwriter Lenny Kravitz.
Long before you’ll be able to see The Best Man, Luke Wilson will star in a Netflix original more along the lines of what fans are used to from the actor. Wilson will appear alongside Lili Reinhart (Riverdale) in the romantic comedy Plus/Minus. According to Variety‘s description of the film, Reinhart’s character Natalie will experience two parallel realities — one in which she’s a young mother in her hometown, and another in which she travels to L.A. to chase her dreams.
As for the guy presumably playing the villain opposite Luke Wilson in The Best Man, Dolph Lundgren, he has a long list of projects coming up. Quite possibly one of them might be a spinoff focusing on his iconic character Ivan Drago. Back in November, Lundgren made the offhand remark, “By the way, I think there’s some talk about doing a whole spinoff on Drago with MGM. So you may get more of that.” Lundgren originated the role of the near-invincible boxer in 1985’s Rocky IV and more recently reprised the part in 2018’s Creed II.
