Bullet to the Head Information

Bullet to the Head is a 2013 action film, co-written and directed by Walter Hill based upon Alexis Nolent's French graphic novel Du Plomb Dans La Tete. The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Sung Kang, Jason Momoa, Sarah Shahi, and Christian Slater. Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Kevin King Templeton produced the film. The film premiered at the International Rome Film Festival on November 14, 2012.

Plot

In New Orleans, hitman Jimmy Bobo (Sylvester Stallone) and his partner Louis Blanchard (Jon Seda) eliminate a corrupt policeman, Hank Greely (Holt McCallany), although Bobo leaves a prostitute, Lola (Weronika Rosati), alive. Later, at a bar, Blanchard is murdered by Keegan (Jason Momoa), who also attempts to kill Bobo, but fails.

Detective Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang) arrives in New Orleans to investigate Greely's death and meets Lieutenant Lebreton (Dane Rhodes), who informs him Lola confirmed Greely was assassinated. Kwon goes to the morgue, and, after seeing Blanchard's body and finding out who he is, he deduces that Blanchard and Bobo killed Greely. Meanwhile, Keegan meets with his employer, Robert Morel (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and Morel's lawyer Marcus Baptiste (Christian Slater). Baptiste reveals that Greely tried to blackmail Morel, and provided local mobster Baby Jack (Douglas M. Griffin) with a file detailing Morel's illegal operations. Keegan later kills Baby Jack and his men and retrieves the file.

Kwon meets Bobo in a bar and informs him that he knows Bobo and Blanchard killed Greely. Bobo leaves, and when Kwon tries to follow him, he's attacked by corrupt cops who were ordered by Morel to prevent Kwon from further investigating about Greely. Bobo rescues Kwon and takes him to a tattoo parlor, where Bobo's daughter, Lisa (Sarah Shahi), treats Kwon's wounds. They later go to a massage parlor where Bobo interrogates Ronnie Earl (Brian Van Holt), the middleman who hired Bobo and Blanchard on Morel's behalf. Ronnie Earl tries to kill Bobo, but Bobo manages to kill him, although his gun jams. Bobo later confronts Kwon, who admits to having tampered with Bobo's gun, nearly causing his death. Bobo and Kwon agree to work together.

Bobo and Kwon kidnap Baptiste and take him to Bobo's house, where he is forced to give them a flash drive detailing Morel's plans to acquire housing projects and demolish them to build office buildings and reveals Keegan is an ex-mercenary hired to be Morel's enforcer. Afterwards, Bobo shoots him in the head. Keegan and his men trace Baptiste's cellphone to Bobo's house, but Bobo and Kwon are able to escape and detonate a bomb, killing Keegan's men. Keegan then becomes obsessed with killing Bobo.

Kwon meets with Lieutenant Lebreton to ask for him help, but Lebreton tries to kill him, as he is also on Morel's payroll, but Bobo kills him and saves Kwon. Meanwhile, Keegan learns about Lisa and kidnaps her. Morel then calls Bobo and offers to trade Lisa for the flash drive. Bobo agrees, and meets with Morel in an abandoned warehouse, where he delivers the flash drive to him and rescues Lisa, while Kwon infiltrates the building to arrest Morel. Keegan becomes furious when Bobo is allowed to leave and kills Morel and his men before going after Bobo.

Keegan confronts Bobo and they have an axe fight, which ends with Bobo slashing Keegan's throat with Blanchard's knife, followed by Kwon shooting Keegan in the head. Kwon retrieves the flash drive and Bobo shoots him in the shoulder to make it appear as if Kwon failed to capture him. Lisa decides to stay with Kwon, with whom she initiates a romantic relationship, and Bobo leaves. He later meets Kwon at a bar, where Kwon tells him he did not mention Bobo's existence to the police this time, but if Bobo continues in the business, Kwon will take him down. Bobo welcomes him to try and drives off into the night.

Cast

• Sylvester Stallone as James "Jimmy Bobo" Bonomo
• Sung Kang as Detective Taylor Kwon
• Sarah Shahi as Lisa Bobo
• Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Morale
• Jason Momoa as Keegan
• Christian Slater as Marcus Baptiste
• Jon Seda as Louis Blanchard
• Holt McCallany as Hank Greely
• Brian Van Holt as Ronnie Earl
• Weronika Rosati as Lola
• Dane Rhodes as Lieutenant Lebreton
• Marcus Lyle Brown as Detective Towne
• Douglas M. Griffin as Baby Jack

Production

The film is based on Alexis Nolent's French graphic novel Du Plomb Dans La Tete, translated as "Bullet to the Head", with the script written by Alessandro Camon. The producing team previously produced the film I Am Number Four. An executive attached to the film has said, "[This movie] is exactly the type of fast-paced, universally themed project that suits our business model. Sylvester Stallone is an international icon and we're really excited to be in business with him." Originally Wayne Kramer was attached to direct, but left the project when his vision of the film was darker than Stallone wanted.

Thomas Jane was originally cast for the part that would eventually go to Sung Kang. The role was recast at the insistence of producer Joel Silver, stating a need for a "more 'ethnic' actor" to appeal to a wider audience.

Bullet to the Head was shot in New Orleans and started filming on June 27, 2011. On August 23, 2011, it was announced that the film would be released on April 13, 2012. On February 23, 2012, the release date was moved back to an unknown date. It was released on February 1, 2013.

Reception

Bullet to the Head has received mixed reviews from critics. It currently holds a 49% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 116 reviews with the consensus: "Bullet to the Heads unapologetically trashy thrills evoke memories of its star and director's proud cinematic pasts " but sadly, those memories are just about all it has to offer".

At Metacritic, the film has a Metascore of 48/100 based on 32 critics, which evaluates as mixed or average reviews.

Music score

The soundtrack album was released digitally on January 29, 2013 and at the stores on February 19. The album features the film's score contains 15 tracks composed by Steve Mazzaro and produced by Hans Zimmer.

#	Title	Performer(s)	Time
1	"Here's the Story"		5:03
2	"Staying in the Game"		2:57
3	"Just Another Soldier"		2:57
4	"On the Road"		1:46
5	"Don't Touch My Gun"		1:57
6	"The Fox and the Hound"		1:24
7	"This Is My City"		3:15
8	"Ambushed"		1:27
9	"The Only Life He Had"		1:57
10	"Guns Don't Kill People"		0:58
11	"Change of Plans"		2:11
12	"End of the Line"		6:41
13	"Vikings"		1:15
14	"It's All Over"		3:06
15	"Bullet to the Head"		5:24

Box office

Bullet to the Head was Sylvester Stallone's worst opening weekend gross in 32 years, and his second-lowest opening weekend gross of all time. Bullet to the Head made $4,458,201 for its opening weekend. As of February 18, 2013, the film has grossed $9,279,012 in the United States.