The drug war isn’t an obvious source of laughs, but stuntman-turned-director Nash Edgerton’s new film — part kidnap thriller, part pharma corp commentary, part buddy comedy — is shot through with dark humour. Gringo stars David Oyelowo as Harold Soyinka, an unassuming pharmaceutical executive who’s kidnapped by a Mexican cartel while delivering the formula for a medical marijuana pill. Instead of paying his ransom, Harold’s bosses send Sharlto Copley’s intense, bearded black-ops merc to get him out alive.
Empire has an exclusive image of Oyelowo and Copley in a scene set at a Mexican fun fair, and Edgerton promises a cracking double act between the mismatched duo. “Man, those two guys together were so great,” he said. “There was just something that happened when they were on screen.”
With a cast also boasting the likes of Joel Edgerton (Nash’s brother), Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried and Thandie Newton, Gringo should be one hell of a trip. The film arrives in UK cinemas on 9 March, and you can read more about it in the new Empire, which hits newsstands on Thursday 22 February.
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