What would happen in the magical events happening in Groundhog Day (1993) were in the form of a thriller and science-fiction flick, with lots of action sequences and a story design to blow the mind of the watching audience? Wait, don’t warm up your brain thinking, no need for that. Because that movie already exists, and it is called Boss Level (2020).
The movie centers on Roy Pulver, a retired special forces soldier who finds himself trapped in a sinister program which results in a never-ending loop leading to his repeated death. Stuck in a time loop, doomed to repeat the same day over and over again while being hunted by dozens of deadly assassins, a man struggles to find a way out of his strange predicament.
Boss Level (2020) is the latest work of director Joe Carnahan, who has become one of the new referents in action movies after being responsible for titles like Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane (1998), Narc (2002), Smokin’ Aces (2006), The A-Team (2010), or The Grey (2011). He has also been co-writer of the screenplay based on a story by Chris Borey and Eddie Borey.
The main star of the show is played by Frank Grillo, an actor that seemed to be destined to be only a supporter face or the action hero in B-movies but with hard work, patience and excellent performance he has managed to reach the top thanks to films like End of Watch (2012), The Purge: Anarchy (2014) and its follow-up The Purge: Election Year (2016), or Beyond Skyline (2017). Two big names co-live with him as top-billing, Mel Gibson, who needs no introduction, and Naomi Watts, who is not so easy to see in productions of this style although she has been part of The Ring (2002) or 21 Grams (2003). The main cast is completed Will Sasso, Annabelle Wallis, Sheaun McKinney, Selina Lo, Meadow Williams, Mathilde Ollivier, Armida Lopez, and the small roles for Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Reign of Assassins (2010)), and Ken Jeong (The Hangover saga).
Boss Level (2020) has been in production for quite a while. Joe Carnahan had been trying to make it for years. It was originally called Continue and was written by Chris Borey and Eddie Borey back in 2010. Carnahan rewrote the script and announced in 2012 that he would direct it for 20th Century Fox. He later filmed screen tests with Frank Grillo. Fox ultimately decided not to move forward with it, reportedly disagreeing with Carnahan‘s choice to cast Grillo as the star. Carnahan later posted the screen tests on Twitter, “to show you how cool this movie could have been…“.
In June 2020, Entertainment Studios dropped the film. Later, in November 2020, the U.S. distribution rights were acquired in an eight-figure deal by Hulu.
Boss Level (2020) is scheduled to be released on March 5, 2021. Here you can watch its trailer.
