I love a good action movie. Today, few franchises hold a candle to John Wick when it comes to action. The creativity and style of the fight and chase sequences help the movies stand out. However, there is a small film that, by virtue of sharing the same producer and the same writer as the original John Wick, comes closer to recreating that success than anybody likely expected: Nobody starring Bob Odenkirk.
Bob Odenkirk wasn’t exactly who people expected to lead a physical action-heavy movie, which is part of why it was all so good when it came together. I’ve been almost as excited for the Nobody sequel as I am for the next John Wick chapter, but after reading this description of Sharon Stone as the villain in Nobody 2, maybe I feel differently. Director Timo Tjahjanto, who is taking over the franchise, recently spoke to Empire, where he described Stone’s character saying,
She’s like a snake. Sometimes she plays it calm and sometimes she just goes batshit crazy!
The long-in-development Nobody 2 sees Bob Odenkirk’s character, Hutch, who has returned to his life of violence, attempt to take his family on a vacation only to inadvertently run afoul of a criminal empire run by Sharon Stone. While the trailers for Nobody 2 certainly show some of the “batshit crazy” that Tjahjanto is talking about, as the character seems to be larger than life – though considering the outrageousness of the premise, that’s part of the fun.
While we’ve seen Sharon Stone play some outrageous characters in her career, it’s been a while since we’ve seen the side of her that we saw in Basic Instinct or even Catwoman. That movie may have been terrible, but Stone certainly gave it her all. The director says Stone was his first choice for the role, though he never actually expected she’d take it; it turns out she surprised him. Tjahjanto said,
I thought we could never get Sharon Stone. We sent a script and a couple of days later I was sitting on her couch, telling her about this character. She was like, ‘Alright, Timo, I’m fucking in.’ It was surreal.
Timo Tjahjanto seems quite excited to have landed Sharon Stone. Nobody 2 will actually be one of the actress' most significant recent roles. The film also includes Colin Hanks as a corrupt sheriff, and sees the return of Connie Nielsen as Hutch's wife and Christopher Lloyd as Hutch's dad.
Sharon Stone was originally cast to play the villain in Blue Beetle, though she eventually had to pull out of the film. While Nobody 2 may not technically be a comic book movie, her character certainly sounds like some sort of supervillain. It’s a role she could certainly play once, and I’m certainly looking forward to seeing her do it here when the sequel arrives in theaters everywhere on August 15.