Tough as it may be to remember thatChris Hemsworthis not an Australian Thunder God in real life, the man does have an MCU adjacent slate to fill (Sorry,Star Trek).THRreports that the next project on theThoractor’s schedule isDhaka,a Netflix action-thriller set in India written and produced byAvengers: Infinity WardirectorsThe Russo Brothers.
The film will mark the directorial debut ofSam Hargrave, a longtime stunt coordinator who also served as stunt double forChris Evansin bothThe AvengersandCaptain America: Civil War.
According to THR, Dhaka “tells of a weary mercenary named Rake (Hemsworth) who is hired to save the son of a businessman in India.”
First of all, Rake is a fantastic name for an action character and if Chris Hemsworth kills a man on-screenwitha rake this movie should win an Oscar.
Second of all, it’s worth noting that a very similar scenario toDhaka’s development ended up giving the worldJohn Wick, the best modern action franchise that doesn’t involveTom Cruisetrying to kill himself for realskies.
Chad Stahelskico-directed the firstJohn Wickalong with fellow stunt performerDavidLeitch, and then took over the helm solo forJohn Wick: Chapter 2andJohn Wick 3: Parabellum.
Before that, Stahelski was an in-demand stunt coordinator andKeanu Reeve’s double for the firstMatrixfilm (and martial arts coordinator on the sequels).
Leitch, for his part, went on to directAtomic Blonde, which had stunts coordinated by…Dhakadirector Sam Hargraves.
Basically, Chris Hemsworth’s new movie both has shades of and is directly helmed by a data pipe of people who know how to beautifully and brutally shoot people getting their heads blown off.
Hargrave is definitely untested as a director soDhakais a bit of a crapshoot, but people slept on the firstJohn Wickmovie, too, and now Keanu Reeves is charging down 5th Avenue on a goddamn horse for a third movie.
