First look at Seven Psychopaths with Farrell, Walken, and Harrelson

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Until today, I hadn’t even heard of this film, but once I read through the details for SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS my “holy shit” meter went off. Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, and, hell yeah, Christopher Walken, All being directed by writer-director Martin McDonagh, who did the brilliantly hilarious IN BRUGES, which won Farrell a Golden Globe (and deservedly so, in my opinion). That’s a hell of a line-up for me and Entertainment Weekly has these exclusive photos to share.

Here’s a synopsis:

“…a savage gangster (Woody Harrelson) goes on a rampage after his beloved shih tzu Bonny goes missing, snatched by an out-of-work actor (Sam Rockwell) who pays the bills by helping a professional dognapper (Christopher Walken) pick up pooches and return them for the reward money. Enter a struggling screenwriter (Farrell), working on a script titled Seven Psychopaths, who gets caught up in his pal Rockwell’s troubles… but also finds a lot of great material in the life-and-death conflict playing out over the kidnapped dog.”

This sounds like it has the perfect amount of dark humor and edgy weirdness that made IN BRUGES so successful.  I love movies like this when they work, and McDonagh is a proven talent, having won an Oscar for his 2005 short film SIX SHOOTER and is also an accomplished playwright.  With a cast like this to bring it all to life, I can’t help but expect the best. 

“The comedy elements in this one are probably stronger or more to the forefront than In Bruges,” says McDonagh.

“No one does it his way,” adds producer Graham Broadbent (WELCOME TO SARAJEVO) who worked with McDonagh on IN BRUGES. “No one walks the tightrope of drama, pathos, comedy, and dark comedy the way he does.”

Rounding out the cast is PRECIOUS star Gabourey Sidibe as an unlucky dog-walker who faces Harrelson’s wrath, and former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko (QUANTUM OF SOLACE) turns up as the mobster’s girlfriend. Abbie Cornish (SUCKERPUNCH) co-stars as Kaya, Farell’s patient and supportive girlfriend and Tom Waits plays Zachariah, a “rabbit-petting weirdo who offers up strange stories from his past for the Seven Psychopaths screenplay.”

This one is officially on my radar and I can’t wait to see a trailer.  Between all the big-budget extravaganzas and bloated Oscar fare, we need movies like this to balance it all out.  No official release date is set for SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS, but expect it sometime this year.  Stay tuned.