EXCLUSIVE: Writers Jon and Erich Hoeber have sold Netflix on the pitch for The Leading Man, an action comedy based on the comic book series from Jeremy Haun and B. Clay Moore, to star and be produced by Kevin Hart and John Cena.
The project brings the Hoebers back to Netflix following the sale of their original script Fast & Loose, an actioner to star Will Smith, which is currently in pre-production and looking for a new director.
In early development, pic’s logline is as follows: When a self-absorbed movie star (Cena) discovers that his co-star/man in the chair (Hart) is an actual agent, he’s forced to swallow his pride and accept that action stars aren’t really action heroes…while trying to save the world.
Hart will produce alongside Luke Kelly-Clyne and Bryan Smiley for Hartbeat, under the company’s multi-film deal with Netflix, along with Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum for RK Films, Eric Gitter and Peter Schwerin for Ignition Productions, Cena, and Dan Baime. Executive producers include Zak Roth for RK Films, Jon and Erich Hoeber, and Jeremy Haun for Ignition.
News of Hart’s involvement with The Leading Man comes amid his work on 72 Hours, a Netflix comedy helmed by Tim Story, where he’ll star alongside Marcello Hernández and Mason Gooding. His previous output for the streamer includes the films Fatherhood, Me Time, The Man from Toronto, and Lift, along with the limited series True Story. The comedic multi-hyphenate is repped by WME, 3 Arts Entertainment, and Schreck Rose Dapello.
Recently at work on Little Brother, a Netflix comedy where he’ll star opposite Eric André, Cena is coming off of Heads of State, an Amazon MGM action comedy co-starring Idris Elba, which has brought in over 75 million worldwide viewers since its July 2nd launch on Prime Video, making it the fourth most-watched Amazon MGM film of all-time on Amazon’s OTT service. Upcoming, he also has Coyote vs. Acme, the live-action Matchbox movie from Apple, Mattel Studios and Skydance, and Peacemaker Season 2 on HBO Max. He is repped by WME, Intenta Management, and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
Brother scribes Jon & Erich Hoeber are known for originating and writing big-ticket film franchises such as Red for Lionsgate starring Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren, The Meg for Warner Bros. starring Jason Statham, and My Spy for Amazon MGM starring Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman. They are represented by Verve and Peikoff Mahan.