Hulu has provided us with the official trailer for Boss Level, the streaming service’s action-packed original film premiering on Friday, March 5. You can watch the trailer using the player below!
The film stars Frank Grillo, Mel Gibson, Naomi Watts, Annabelle Wallis, Ken Jeong, Will Sasso, Selina Lo, Meadow Williams and Michelle Yeoh. Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski and MMA heavyweights Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson guest star.
Boss Level was directed by Joe Carnahan (Narc, Smokin’ Aces, The Grey) from a script by Chris Borey & Eddie Borey and Joe Carnahan. It was produced by Joe Carnahan, Frank Grillo, Randall Emmett, George Furla.
Trapped in a time loop that constantly repeats the day of his murder, former special forces agent Roy Pulver (Frank Grillo) uncovers clues about a secret government project that could unlock the mystery behind his untimely death.
In a race against the clock, Pulver must hunt down Colonel Ventor (Mel Gibson), the powerful head of the government program, while outrunning skilled ruthless assassins determined to keep him from the truth in order to break out of the loop, save his ex-wife (Naomi Watts) and live once again for tomorrow.
The journey to Boss Level began when writer-director Joe Carnahan read a script that had elements he liked but which still needed work to bust through.
“The original script was called Continue, and it was written by two brothers, Chris and Eddie Borey,” says Carnahan. “I thought it was very inventive and smart. But what I really loved about it was this idea of a guy who’s been an absentee father and husband who, through a sci-fi plot twist, experiences a repeating moment in which — if he has enough attempts — he can right the wrongs he’s done and redeem himself in the eyes of the people he loves.”
“I started rewriting it, and I added what I thought was a crucial emotional core,” says Carnahan. “Because without that, a movie like this would just seem like a gimmick. You’d think, ok, the guy is resurrected every day, but to what end? The movie needed higher emotional stakes.”
The phrase “Boss Level,” explains Carnahan, “is a phrase that anyone who plays videogames will understand instantly – it’s the ultimate boss, the highest and toughest level of difficulty in a fighting game. Here, that becomes this idea of Roy Pulver being killed and then reincarnated as he’s trying to get to Col. Ventor.
In the movie, “The ‘boss level’ is Ventor; he’s the ultimate challenge after all the assassins have been killed. I also just thought it’s a cool combination of words. It has a punchiness to it.”
Boss Level has a lot of punch to it, too – as well as wild twists and turns, grenade-launchers, assault weapons being fired from hovering helicopters, electrocutions, beheadings, death-by-coffee-pot-to-the-face, and other forms of mayhem that give the MPAA ratings board instant ulcers.
As Ventor’s assassins and mercenaries pulverize Roy Pulver six ways to Sunday, the over-the-top kills, hand-to-hand combat, and car chases become artfully baroque. Which, Grillo says, is part of the film’s unique charm.
“I think what Boss Level does for the action genre is, it turns it all upside-down,” says Grillo. “It’s not a standard thriller, and it’s not a straightforward, linear action movie. It’s an action movie that’s got a lot of laughs, a lot of dark humor, and lots of gravitas because of Roy’s connection to his ex-wife and son. We tried to create something new in the genre: A stew containing all these different elements.”
