Legend Bruce Willis hits the big screen one last time in the new action-packed thriller Assassin. The actor announced his retirement in 2022 after a long battle with aphasia, shocking and saddening fans. Willis' condition impacts his speaking, listening, and reading skills.
Long before his diagnosis though, Willis carved his own Hollywood legacy, starring in iconic films like The Sixth Sense, Pulp Fiction, and, of course, the beloved Die Hard franchise. Always playing the wisecracking yet gun-toting hard-edged character, Willis is to take on a similar role in his final film Assassin.
This sci-fi espionage adventure takes place somewhere in the near future where drone technology has evolved past simple machines, allowing people’s minds to take over and control someone else's body. Willis plays Valorma, the leader of a top-secret military group that uses this new technology to take over other people and carry out deadly and extremely covert missions. However, things take a turn when this technology falls into enemy hands and an agent played by Mustafa Shakir (Luke Cage) is killed on a mission. His wife, played by Nomzamo Mbatha (Coming 2 America) then steps in to take his place in an attempt to bring her husband's killer to justice.
Like most of Willis’s slate of recent films, Assassin—distributed by Saban Films—will have a short theatrical release followed by a steaming release set for March 31. Not unlike the other 22 direct-to-video films Willis has starred in since 2020, this is a low-budget action film. However, the fact that it is Willis’s final farewell and feature debut film for novice director Jesse Atlas may boost its status over its peers.
Along with announcing the release date for Assassin, Atlas spoke about the film’s production with entertainment news site, Collider and gave some insight into what the film strives to convey. “Assassin is an exploration of identity,” said Atlas. As the film navigates the battle of one’s psyche as they enter the body of another, questions of technological advancement and ego are sure to come into play.
This pulse-pounding thriller will also serve as an honor to Willis' long legacy that spans three decades. Check out the official trailer from Saban Films below to get a look inside the psychological minefield of Assassin and Willis’s final grace on the silver screen.
Featured still from “Assassin” via IMDB
