LONDON – Principal photography began today on Millennium Films’ “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” starring Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Elodie Yung and Salma Hayek. The film is directed by Patrick Hughes (Expendables 3) from a script by Tom O’Connor.  Lionsgate is distributing in the US and the UK.

“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” is an action comedy about the world’s top protection agent (Reynolds) and his new client: a notorious hitman who came in from the cold (Jackson).  They’ve been on opposite ends of a bullet for years.  They hate each other.  Now they’re stuck together and have 24 hours to get from England to The Hague. The only thing standing in their way is everything a murderous Eastern European dictator (Oldman) can throw at them.

The film stars Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool, The Proposal) as protection agent Michael Bryce, Samuel L. Jackson (The Legend of Tarzan, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight) as hitman Darius Kincaid, and Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight Rises, The Dark Knight) as Eastern European dictator Vladislav Dukhovich. The movie also features Salma Hayek (Grown Ups, Tale of Tales, Frida) as Darius’ wife Sonia Kincaid, and Elodie Yung (Daredevil, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) as Interpol agent Amelia Roussel.

Producers are Mark Gill, John Thompson, Matt O’Toole and Les Weldon. The executive producers are Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, Christine Otal, Douglas Urbanski, Jason Bloom, Christa Campbell and Lati Grobman.

Patrick Hughes’ creative team includes director of photography Jules O’Loughlin(Black Sails), production designer Russell De Rozario (Kick-Ass 1 & 2) and costume designer Stephanie Collie (London Has Fallen).

“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” is Reynolds’ next film after the enormous success ofDeadpool.

Millennium Films is one of the longest-running independent film companies in the history of Hollywood, with 20 years and more than 300 movies to its credit.  The company now produces, finances and handles international sales for 5-8 star-driven movies per year, generally with budgets between $20 million and $80 million.

It is best known for The Expendables series (more than half a billion dollars in worldwide box office) and the recent hits Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen.

Lionsgate is a premier next generation global content leader with a diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, international distribution and sales, branded channel platforms, interactive ventures and games, and location-based entertainment.  The Company has nearly 80 television shows on 40 different networks spanning its primetime production, distribution and syndication businesses.  These include the critically-acclaimed hit series Orange is the New Black, the hit broadcast network series Nashville, the syndication successes The Wendy Williams Show and Celebrity Name Game (with FremantleMedia), the breakout series The Royals and the Golden Globe-nominated dramedy Casual.

The Company’s feature film business spans eight labels and includes the blockbuster Hunger Games franchise, the Now You See Me, Divergent and John Wickseries, Sicario, The Age of Adaline, Roadside Attractions’ Love & Mercy and Mr. Holmes, Codeblack Films’ Addicted and breakout concert film Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain and Pantelion Films’ Instructions Not Included, the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S.

Lionsgate’s home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rates.  Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 16,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company’s core businesses. The Lionsgate and Summit brands remain synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world. www.lionsgate.com