Back in February it was announced that Amblin Entertainment has snapped up the rights to the “female John Wick” script Ruthless, and now Deadline is reporting that costume designer Courtney Hoffman has been set to make her directorial debut on the film.
Hoffman’s costume credits include Dark Shadows, Snow White and the Huntsman, Magic Mike, To the Wonder, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight and Baby Driver. However, it was her recent Western short film The Good Time Girls, which she wrote and directed, that caught Amblin’s eye and opened the door for her to board Ruthless after the exit of original director Brad Peyton. Check out the short here…
“I saw the short and immediately felt like I’d seen something I hadn’t before, with a clear perspective, and beautifully and confidently shot,” producer Matti Leshem tells Deadline. “When the studio asked if we should consider her, we all said, absolutely. We met with her and heard her pitch for how to make the film. In 25 years of listening to pitches from filmmakers, I cannot remember being that excited by a complete view of the film she intends to make. She has worked on all those big films, and it was clear she understands the collaborative nature, and that she has all the necessary confidence to direct a big movie.”
The logline for Ruthless reads: “When a legendary retired assassin is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, she must return to the life she left behind and complete one final job in order to secure a future for her young daughter.”