- Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine reimagines the darkly comic tone of In Bruges with a new cast and historical backdrop.
- Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich play CIA agents on a chaotic mission to Easter Island, navigating conspiracies and unexpected complications.
- The first trailer reveals razor-sharp dialogue, black humour, and the signature McDonagh lens.
There’s always a risk when you revisit a cinematic cult classic years after the original first hit our screens. Happy Gilmore 2, Zoolander 2, The Hangover 3. These are all, in my opinion, disappointing follow-ups to celebrated titles.
I’ll admit, it’s always a difficult one to navigate, returning to a beloved universe with characters that have stayed with audiences long after the final curtain. It’s why actors like Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly have a “no sequel clause” in their contracts, turning down multi-million-dollar roles to preserve the original.
So what to do with a film like In Bruges, a cult classic in every sense of the word. It didn’t exactly set the world alight when it released in 2008, returning US$34.5 million on a modest US$15 million budget. But in the years that followed, it took on new life, as new generations discovered the film on their own.
Through the events of the film (spoilers) it would be difficult to make a sequel. Yet it looks as though writer and director Martin McDonagh has found a clever workaround, relaunching a similar premise with a whole new set of characters and timelines.
And if the first-look trailer for Wild Horse Nine is anything to go by, it promises the same dark comedy and razor-sharp dialogue that made McDonagh a household name. Well, if it ain’t broke…
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Set just before the 1973 Chilean coup, Wild Horse Nine follows CIA agents as they are sent from Santiago to Easter Island, where a straight forward mission of keeping a low profile is scuppered in classic McDonagh fashion.
Between the looming threat of political upheaval and the emerging sup-plots between the film’s, let’s say, headstrong characters, what should be a straightforward assignment quickly spirals into chaos, leaving Rockwell’s Lee with difficult orders from the suits upstairs. The similarities with In Bruges are plain for all to see.
“Remember, he ain’t leaving the f–cking island, Lee”
MJ, CIA Bureau Chief
Wild Horse Nine sees a reunion between veteran filmmaker McDonagh with Sam Rockwell, his self-confessed “muse”, once more, who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in McDonagh’s 2017 drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
“I’ve always got him in my head when I’m writing an American character of that age,” McDonagh told Collider in 2017. “There’s something freeing about having Sam in your head when you’re writing. He can play the darkest of characters and the nicest of characters, too, and both in one person, to a degree.
“So, if anyone has ever been a bit of a muse than I think it’s Sam.”
Martin McDonagh, Wild Horse Nine director
The pair have seemingly struck gold through their work, earning seven Oscar nominations for Three Billboards, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay for Martin McDonagh, Best Actress for Frances McDormand and two Best Supporting Actor nominations for both Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson.
Wild Horse Nine pairs Rockwell with another legend of the cinema, John Malkovich, who co-stars as CIA agent Chris. Steve Buscemi joins the ensemble cast CIA bureau chief, MJ, while Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas play rebellious students who complicate the duo’s mission… to stay low.
First few watches of the new trailer reveals McDonagh’s signature dark humour on full display, with bickering killers, classic one-liners, and stunning scenery, all with McDonagh’s now classic, unnerving sense of looming portent, throughout.
Slated for a November 2026 release, audiences may be in for another cinematic killer that captures the magic of a celebrated filmmaker with an open runway, returning to fertile ground with a tried and tested storyline. It’s not a sequel to In Bruges, but it could be the spiritual follow-up we’ve secretly been waiting for all this time.
