Is War, Inc. a sequel to Grosse Pointe Blank?

Is John Cusack’s new film War, Inc. a sequel to Grosse Pointe Blank? There seems to be very little information about the film online but what there is leads me to think this could be a follow-up to the 1997 cult favourite.

IMDb has this to say about the plot -

“…is set in the future, when the desert country of Turagistan is torn by a riot after a private corporation, owned by the former US president, has taken over the whole state. John Cusack plays the role of a hit man, who suppresses his emotions by gobbling down on hot sauce and is hired by the corporation’s head to kill the CEO of their competitors. Everything changes when the ruthless killer finds himself head-over-heels in love with a sexy reporter.”

This sounds more than a little stupid (a spicy sauce guzzling assassin!) but at least one thing seems certain - Cusack is playing a hit man just as he did in Grosse Pointe Blank.

And there’s more -

Cusack wrote the script for Grosse Pointe Blank something he’s only done with two other films - High Fidelity and War, Inc. Two out of three films about hit men or should that be a hit man? IMDb lists no character name for Cusack in the film.

John’s sister Joan appeared in Grosse Pointe Blank as his secretary. She’s back in War, Inc but again there is no character name listed.

The film is also known by the working title Brand Hauser: Stuff Happens which is frankly too awful to be real.

Not convinced? Check out this pic of Cusack with co-star Hillary Duff -

Looks a lot like Martin Q. Blank to me but then again, maybe John just thinks all hit men wear black suits.

I’m probably way off base with all this but I hope I’m not. Apart from the fact I’d enjoy seeing Martin Q. Blank again, it’s a much cooler name than Brand Hauser. All will be revealed when the film is released later this year.

March 23rd, 2007 Posted by Ian W | Film & TV News, Rants & Raves | 3 comments