| Wolfs | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Release poster | |
| Directed by | Jon Watts |
| Written by | Jon Watts |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Larkin Seiple |
| Edited by | Andrew Weisblum |
| Music by | Theodore Shapiro |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Apple TV+ |
Release dates |
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Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Wolfs is a 2024 Americanaction comedy film written and directed byJon Watts. StarringGeorge Clooney,Brad Pitt, andAustin Abrams, it follows two nameless, professionalfixers who are forced to work together on a job despite their preference to operate aslone wolves.[1][2]
Wolfs premiered out of competition at theVenice International Film Festival on September 1, 2024, to lukewarm reviews. It had a one-weeklimited theatrical release starting on September 20, 2024, it received mixed reviews from critics, and was released a week after onApple TV+, where it became the streaming service's most-viewed film.[3] Apple's decision to pivot the film to streaming despite pre-arranged agreements for a theatrical release led Watts not to move forward with a planned sequel.[4]However,Sony Pictures (throughColumbia Pictures) retains the distribution rights to the film for itsVideo on-demand release.
Margaret, aManhattan District Attorney, panics after a young man ("the Kid") dies in her hotel room. She calls a number given to her for just such an emergency by someone she trusts, and secures the services of an unnamed professionalfixer. He arrives to dispose of the Kid, who Margaret explains was jumping on the bed and fell into a glass drinks cart.
Another unnamed fixer arrives, sent by the hotel's unseen owner, Pam, who saw everything via hidden cameras. To protect the hotel's reputation and the D.A.'s career, the two women urge the fixers to work together, much to their chagrin.
The fixers initially refuse, but Margaret privately reminds her fixer that he has been captured on the hidden surveillance footage, and quotes what her contact had told her about the fixer when providing his number: "You take a job, you give your word, and that word is the measure of a man."
The fixers reluctantly join forces, providing Margaret with an alibi and change of clothes, and sending her home. They find a large stash of drugs in the Kid's bag, which the hotel owner orders them to return to its original owners to avoid further trouble. Margaret's fixer deftly moves the body to the trunk of his car using a luggage cart, only to discover that the Kid is still alive but overdosing on drugs.
Knocking the Kid out and stowing him in the trunk, the fixers suspect the drugs belong to a shipment of pure drugs recently stolen from theAlbanian mafia. They take the young man to a Chinatown restaurant, where an underground medic operates a clandestine clinic. The Kid, however, escapes in his underwear, leading the fixers on a chase through the city.
Catching him and sobering him up with pills from the medic, the fixers interrogate the Kid. He explains that he agreed to deliver the drugs as a favor to his friend Diego, a bartender at a nightclub. While waiting for the address to be sent via apager, the Kid had met Margaret in an upscale hotel bar. After going to her room, he'd secretly tried the drugs on a whim.
The trio go to Diego's nightclub so the Kid can pick up the pager which had been left behind the bar. The fixers get caught up in akolo (a wedding dance) and are recognized by Dimitri, a dangerous Croatian mobster for whom they had each previously worked alone. They save themselves by convincing Dimitri they are not working together against him, and leave separately.
The fixers deduce that drug kingpin Lagrange is Diego's employer, that he likely stole the Albanians' shipment, and that the Kid is beingframed. The address for the drop, Lagrange's warehouse, is received to the pager. Though the fixers expect the Kid will be killed, they agree to let him make the delivery of the returned drugs.
The fixers watch from a car as the Kid enters the warehouse, but are ambushed by the Albanians and by Dimitri's bodyguards. They shoot their attackers dead and make their way inside to find that Lagrange's men and the Albanians have all killed one other, and the Kid has survived by hiding inside a car trunk.
Realizing that both fixers' clients would prefer that the Kid die, they prepare to kill him, but have a change of heart. After accompanying the Kid home on the subway, they threaten him and his father to keep quiet about the entire incident.
Having breakfast at a diner inBrighton Beach, Margaret's fixer asks Pam's fixer how Pam convinced him to collaborate. He says she told him, "You take a job, you give your word, and that word is the measure of a man." Realizing the same person employs them both, they conclude that their employer orchestrated everything, and that they were meant to die in the warehouse.
They suddenly notice that several hitmen are gathering outside. They duck for cover and begin loading their weapons, and make a deal to tell one another their names if they survive. The movie ends as they begin firing out of the diner at the hitmen.
In September 2021, a studio bidding war began for afilm package that includedJon Watts as writer and director, withGeorge Clooney andBrad Pitt on board to star and produce via their respective production labels,Smokehouse Pictures andPlan B Entertainment.[6] Watts hadpitched the film to Clooney viaZoom while editing theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) filmSpider-Man: No Way Home (2021), after which Clooney warned him that Pitt would be hard to convince, but in spite of Watts not being able to sleep properly due to struggling on how to approach Pitt, it later turned out that Clooney told Pitt about the project before Watts contacted him and Pitt immediately agreed to join when Watts called him.[7]Wolfs reunites the two actors, who appeared together in theOcean's trilogy (2001–2007) and in one scene inBurn After Reading (2008).[1][8]Apple TV+ acquired the rights to it after winning the bidding war againstAmazon MGM Studios,Annapurna Pictures,Lionsgate,Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,Netflix,Sony Pictures (which briefly took over theatrical distribution rights before it was pivoted to limited),Universal Pictures andWarner Bros. Pictures.[9] To makeWolfs as well to take a break from the superhero genre, Watts exited the MCU filmThe Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) in April 2022.[7] Additional cast members were revealed in 2023.[10][11][12]Principal photography reportedly began in January 2023 in New York City, including the neighborhoods ofHarlem andChinatown.[13][14]Larkin Seiple, who shot Watts'Cop Car (2015), was the cinematographer of the approximately 70-day shoot.[15] In August 2024,The New York Times reported that Apple paid Clooney and Pitt more than $35 million to star and Watts more than $15 million to direct the film.[16] Clooney denied this claim, stating, "It is millions and millions and millions of dollars less than what was reported. And I am only saying that because I think it's bad for our industry if that's what people think is the standard bearer for salaries."[17]
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Wolfs debuted onApple TV+ on September 27, 2024.[18] It was originally set for awide release in cinemas since Apple acquired it in 2021, Clooney and Pitt having "made the deal to do that movie where we gave money back to make sure that we had a theatrical release."[19] In December 2023, Apple entered another agreement withSony Pictures Releasing, following their partnership onNapoleon, to distribute the film in cinemas, scheduling it for release in the United States on September 20, 2024.[20][21]
In August 2024, six weeks before its release, Apple announced its decision to pivot from a wide release to alimited theatrical release on the same date.[18][16]The New York Times noted that Sony, who had agreed to distribute the film and split marketing costs with Apple, was set to begin a national marketing campaign during the2024 Paris Olympics. However, Zack Van Amburg, overseer of Apple's entertainment programming, canceled those plans and the deal with Sony, as Apple executives hoped "to not risk a public disappointment should the movie not succeed at the box office".[16] Clooney said he and Pitt put some of their salary into keeping the limited release, which was then set to be handled solely by Apple.[22]
The film premiered out of competition at the81st Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2024. Watts missed the event due to contractingCOVID-19.[23]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 67% of 177 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "George Clooney and Brad Pitt's professional star power givesWolfs zip even when it cycles through clichés of the fixer genre, making for a pleasing and slick throwback."[24]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[25]
A month prior to its release, Apple confirmed asequel was in the works, with Watts, Clooney, and Pitt returning.[18] Of the announcement, Watts said, "Apple's been talking to me about a sequel since I turned in my cut in December [2023]. That's always been an ongoing discussion. I absolutely did not write the movie with a sequel in mind. But it was very fun to make, so I don't know, I think you let the audience decide if they want to see more."[8] In November 2024, Watts announced that he personally decided not to move forward with a sequel as he was displeased with Apple's decision to pivotWolfs to streaming.[26][4]
