(L to R) Brax (Jon Bernthal) and Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) in ‘The Accountant 2’. Photo Credit: Warrick Page/Prime © Amazon Content Services LLC.
Preview:
- The first images of ‘The Accountant 2’ are online.
- Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal and J.K. Simmons are among the stars.
- Gavin O’Connor returned to direct this one.
Back in 2016, Ben Affleck starred in action crime drama ‘The Accountant,’ which saw him as Christian Wolff, a math savant with more affinity for numbers than people.
Behind the cover of a small-town CPA office, he worked as a freelance accountant for some of the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations.
But when the Treasury Department’s Crime Enforcement Division, run by Ray King (J.K. Simmons), starts to close in, Christian takes on a legitimate client: a state-of-the-art robotics company where an accounting clerk (Anna Kendrick) has discovered a discrepancy involving millions of dollars. But as Christian uncooks the books and gets closer to the truth, it is the body count that starts to rise…
Directed by Gavin O’Connor from a script by Bill Dubuque, it was a hit, generating more than $155 million from a $44 million budget.
Christian Wolff is brought out of hiding by Treasury Agent Marybeth Medina after someone close to them is killed by unknown assassins. To solve the murder, Wolff… Read the Plot
It’s perhaps a little surprising then, that it has taken this long for ‘The Accountant 2‘ to arrive, though there are numerous factors at play, including the decline in such mid-budget (at least for Hollywood) movies over the years, the star and director’s busy schedules and the fact that Warner Bros. isn’t as involved this time (though the studio is still listed as a production company and is distributing the film outside the States).
Here’s what O’Connor had to say to Vanity Fair about his eight years trying to get the sequel made:
“It was brutal. It just felt like this flower that was ready to bloom, and then it would stop again and start again. It was so frustrating. It was very important to me to make an exuberant, entertaining movie. I wanted to make an emotional film and also not just an action movie, which I would find wildly boring and uninteresting. An action movie that dealt with human connection and love was something that I really wanted to explore.”
Yet arrive it has –– or will in a couple of months following a world premiere debut at this year’s SXSW Film Festival –– and to prove it, the first images of Affleck and the rest of the cast are now online.
What’s the story of ‘The Accountant 2’?
Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) in ‘The Accountant 2’. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video © Amazon Content Services LLC.
When an old acquaintance is murdered, leaving behind a cryptic message to “find the accountant,” Wolff is compelled to solve the case.
Realizing more extreme measures are necessary, Wolff recruits his estranged and highly lethal brother, Brax (Jon Bernthal), to help. In partnership with U.S. Treasury Deputy Director Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), they uncover a deadly conspiracy, becoming targets of a ruthless network of killers who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried…
Who else is in ‘The Accountant 2’?
Brax (Jon Bernthal) in ‘The Accountant 2’. Photo Credit: Warrick Page/Prime © Amazon Content Services LLC.
The cast for the new movie includes the returning likes of Addai-Robinson, Simmons and Bernthal plus new recruits including ‘Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom’s Daniella Pineda, as well as Allison Robertson.
Related Article: ‘The Account 2’: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal and More All Returning
‘The Accountant 2’: The Cast Speak
(L to R) Anais (Daniella Pineda) and Ray King (J.K. Simmons) in ‘The Accountant 2’. Photo Credit: Warrick Page/Prime © Amazon Content Services LLC.
Here’s Affleck on the enduring appeal of the original film:
“It was a movie that I found that I would hear about from people. It was a movie that stuck around, that people would talk about and say, ‘Oh, hey, I like ‘The Accountant.’ And there seemed to be a lot of goodwill towards it.”
In regard to his character, Christian Wolff, Affleck had this to say:
“This is a guy who wants to have a relationship. He wants to have friends. He’s good at some things and good at others. And I thought that the kind of vulnerability and honesty of that was kind of an interesting risk to take.”
And this is what Bernthal thinks of his character, Brax:
“Underneath it all, I think especially with Braxton, is just this unbelievable yearning to have his brother in his life and this unbelievable loneliness that he’s been trying to fill with all these very empty ways.”
Finally, here’s Addai-Robinson on her return as Marybeth:
“I was always hopeful that I would get to revisit this story and see how Marybeth was doing these days. I was very excited to finally get the call that we were getting the band back together.”
Could there be a third movie?
(L to R) Ben Affleck (Christian Wolff), Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Marybeth Medina), Director Gavin O’Connor, and Jon Bernthal (Brax) in ‘The Accountant 2’. Photo Credit: Warrick Page/Prime © Amazon Content Services LLC.
While all involved certainly want to reunite, we’ll likely have to wait and see how this one performs first.
Here’s O’Connor:
“I have a lot of thoughts about what to do with the third. I’ve been thinking about it for a lot of years.”
While Affleck strikes a more cautionary note:
“I’m keenly aware of the fact that you kind of have to earn another movie. The worst pitfall is to store a bunch of your good ideas for the next installment. If you don’t create an interest demand the first time out there, you’re just going to be playing that to an empty house.”
When will ‘The Accountant 2’ be in theaters?
The ‘Accountant’ sequel is currently targeting an April 25th release in cinemas, something of a rarity for Amazon MGM studios projects.
(L to R) Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) and Brax (Jon Bernthal) in ‘The Accountant 2’. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios © Amazon Content Services LLC.
Discussion about this post