Finally, Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista’s crazy idea of making a buddy cop movie is coming true, and it looks like MGM is already on top to win the rights to make it happen.
It all began with a Tweet by Bautista on August 19: “Just going to throw this out into the atmosphere and see what happens. Here we go…Me and Momoa in a Lethal Weapon type buddy cop movie directed by David Leitch. Ok! There it is. Now we wait.”
Momoa later backed up Bautista during an appearance on the Late Late Show with James Corden. The Aquaman star got fans excited by saying Bautista would wear a Speedo and Momoa in his trademark board shorts. Momoa also said that they would film in his home state of Hawaii.
Now, jump all the way to this week, where the future buddy cop team is closing in on a four-studio bidding war, in which MGM is reportedly the top contender to winning the rights for the untitled comedy film.
Via Deadline:
“The duo pitched it all over town this week, with Jonathan Tropper writing. The connection between the writer and stars comes from See, the Apple TV+ drama series that stars the duo. Tropper also scripted the upcoming Shawn Levy-directed The Adam Project with Ryan Reynolds. The film came from an original idea from Momoa, Bautista, and Tropper. The studio will develop it, but the principals have made rich deals that kick in when the picture goes into production.”
While there isn’t a director chosen yet, there is hope that filming can begin in 2023 after they complete the project they are currently working on, Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3.