STX Entertainment’s STXfilms is continuing its partnership with actor Kevin Hart’s HartBeat Productions for high-concept superhero comedy, Night Wolf.
Detective Pikachu screenwriters Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit pitched it to the studio and are developing a new twist on the superhero genre with Hart attached to star.
Night Wolf follows a Meet the Parents-esque encounter where a man (Hart) meets his future father-in-law for the first time only to discover he is secretly the superhero known as the Night Wolf.
Hart previously starred in The Upside, the $100 million grossing hit which STX distributed earlier this year. Night Wolf marks a third outing for both companies with the film overseen by HartBeat and by STXfilms’ SVP of Production Drew Simon.
“After we acquired Night Wolf, we submitted it to Kevin Hart and the Team at HartBeat hoping they would love it as much as we did.” said Chairman of STXfilms Adam Fogelson. “It is a big, broad comedy and the idea is great fun and perfectly matched with Kevin’s comedic talent. We are thrilled to be working on what will now be our fourth film together,”
“I am excited to be working with our friends at STX again. They brought us a great project with Night Wolf.” Hart said. “I instantly fell in love with this pitch about an everyday guy who is meeting his in-laws for the first time and unwittingly discovers his dad to be is secretly a superhero,” said Hart.
STXfilms’ upcoming slate include Hustlers (September 13), Countdown (October 25), Playmobil (December 6), Brahms: The Boy II (December 6), My Spy (Jan 10), and The Gentlemen (Jan 24) among others.
Kevin Hart, who received CinemaCon’s international Star of the Year Award back in April, voice-performed in The Secret Life of Pets 2. He will appear next in Jumanji: The Next Level this December, and is developing a remake of South Korean crime comedy, Extreme Job at Universal.
Hernandez and Samit are represented by Oly Obst at 3 Arts Entertainment and Karl Austen and Michael Auerbach at Jackoway Austen Tyerman Werthheimer Mandlebaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein. Hart is represented by 3 Arts, UTA and Schreck Rose Dapello & Adams.