Skip to main content

Ryan Reynolds gets in Kevin Costner’s head in the first trailer for Criminal

Ryan Reynolds is all over the news right now due to this weekend’s premiere of Deadpool, but the actor appears to be playing a far more understated role in the upcoming thriller Criminal, which debuted its first trailer this week.

The upcoming film casts Kevin Costner as a hardened death-row inmate who has the memories of a deceased CIA operative (Reynolds) implanted in his brain in order to facilitate the completion of an important mission that could avert a catastrophe. While Reynolds is glimpsed in the trailer, it appears that the film is putting Costner front and center in what looks to be an explosive adventure.

Directed by Ariel Vroman (The Iceman) from a script by The Rock screenwriters Douglas Cook and David Weisberg, Criminal also stars Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight), Tommy Lee Jones (Men in Black), and Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), as well as Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) and Scott Adkins (The Bourne Ultimatum) in supporting roles.

In something of a weird coincidence, the film will be a reunion of sorts for Adkins and Reynolds, who both played Deadpool in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, with Reynolds handling the dialogue and much of the early scenes from the film and Adkins stepping in for several fight and stunt sequences. Given that Deadpool just arrived in theaters, it’s an amusing convergence of events for the actors.

Along the same lines, Criminal will also be the first collaboration between Costner, Oldman, and Jones since 1991’s JFK.

Although Costner has drifted away from more action-oriented roles in recent years, the 61-year-old Oscar winner occasionally still throws down on the screen in some intense, action-heavy roles, including last year’s 3 Days to Kill and the 2012 television miniseries Hatfields & McCoys.

Criminal is produced by Chris Bender, Kevin King, and J.C. Spink, along with executive producers Jason Bloom, Christa Campbell, and Lati Grobman.

The film is scheduled to hit theaters April 15.

Editors' Recommendations

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
Ryan Reynolds time travels in The Adam Project trailer
Ryan Reynolds in The Adam Project.

Earlier this month, Netflix teased its ambitious slate of original movies for the rest of the year. One of their standout titles is The Adam Project, which is slated to debut next month. And in the first trailer for this sci-fi adventure, viewers are introduced to Adam, as played by Ryan Reynolds. He's a man from the future who is about to literally confront his past...by going back in time and teaming up with himself.

The Adam Project | Official Teaser | Netflix

Read more
Ryan Reynolds confirms Deadpool 3 is in the works
deadpool 3 different direction pink

FULL Live with Kelly and Ryan 12/24/19 HD (December 24, 2019)

Ryan Reynolds has confirmed that a new Deadpool movie is in the works at Marvel Studios.

Read more
3 underrated (HBO) Max movies you should watch this weekend (June 28-30)
A girl looks at a boy in House at the End of the Street.

June is surprisingly over, and with it, a great month for movies comes to a satisfactory close. You've probably watched Inside Out 2 or Bad Boys: Ride or Die or maybe even The Bikeriders. From blockbusters to indie fare, the theatrical movie business has been robust and healthy.

The same goes for streaming. Netflix had a big hit with Richard Linklater's Hit Man, while Amazon Prime Video recently premiered the latest bonkers season of The Boys. HBO and Max have been quieter, but their robust library speaks volumes to the streamer's high quality. The following three films are older, but are just as worth your time as new hits like House of the Dragon season 2.
The Skin I Live In (2011)

Read more