text: wanted ( 2008 film ) wanted is a 2008 american - german action thriller film based on the comic book miniseries of the same name by mark millar and j. g. jones . the film , written by chris morgan , michael brandt , and derek haas and directed by timur bekmambetov stars james mcavoy , morgan freeman , and angelina jolie . the storyline follows wesley gibson ( mcavoy ) , a frustrated account manager who discovers that he is the son of a professional assassin and decides to join the fraternity , a secret society in which his father worked . universal studios acquired the adaptation rights from millar in 2004 , and while the eventual script drifted from the comic book supervillain mythos in the original miniseries , millar was content to see most of the comic 's darker content was retained . production began in april 2007 , with filming in the czech republic , budapest , and the story 's main setting , chicago . wanted was released in june 2008 to both critical and commercial success , with box office earnings of $ 341 million worldwide and reviews praising the fast pacing and stylized action scenes . a sequel was planned the same year as the film 's release , but ultimately stalled in the development phase . plot in chicago , 24 - year - old wesley gibson ( james mcavoy ) works at a dead - end desk job with an overbearing boss , takes anti - anxiety medication for panic attacks , and has an unfaithful live - in girlfriend who cheats on him with his friend and colleague , barry ( chris pratt ) . one night at the pharmacy , wesley is told by a woman named fox ( angelina jolie ) that his recently murdered father was an assassin , and the killer , a man named cross ( thomas kretschmann ) , is now hunting him . cross and fox engage in a shoot - out with hi - tech guns . wesley panics and runs into the parking lot followed by cross who steals a truck and attempts to run wesley down . fox flips wesley into her car and then calmly executes a spectacular escape . wesley awakens in the headquarters of the fraternity , a secret society of assassins . the group 's leader , sloan ( morgan freeman ) , explains that wesley 's panic attacks are actually the untrained expression of a rare ability that allows wesley 's body to distribute massive amounts of adrenaline , granting superhuman strength , speed , and heightened perception . sloan wants to teach him to control this ability , and to become an assassin and join their cause . wesley initially panics and returns to his former life . the next morning , he discovers that his bank account now contains several million dollars . the discovery changes his outlook on life , and during a tirade from his boss , wesley snaps and delivers a public diatribe . afterward , he picks up a keyboard and during his exit , hits barry 's face with it . fox arrives while wesley is outside looking at newspaper headlines of the previous night 's events . wesley is trained for his new life and is soon shown the loom of fate , which gives the names of future targets through errors in the fabric . those the loom identifies will apparently cause problems in the future , but only sloan can see and interpret the messages . though wesley is initially reluctant to kill , he is convinced when fox tells him that , in her childhood , a hired killer who burned her father alive had been previously identified by the loom , but efforts to kill him were unsuccessful . after several missions , wesley finally manages to leave his girlfriend . he soon has a shootout with cross , wherein wesley accidentally kills another fraternity member . cross shoots wesley in the shoulder . sloan grants wesley 's wish to avenge his father and sends him after cross — but then secretly gives fox a mission to kill wesley , saying that his name had come up in the loom , as well . analyzing the bullet that hit wesley , it is discovered that it was manufactured by a man named pekwarsky . wesley and fox capture pekwarsky , who arranges a meeting with cross . wesley faces cross alone on a moving train . fox steals a car and crashes it into the train , causing a derailment . after cross saves wesley from falling into a ravine , wesley fatally shoots him . before dying , cross reveals that he is wesley 's real father . fox confirms this , and explains that wesley was recruited because he was the only person cross would not kill . fox points her gun at wesley , but he shoots the glass under him and falls into the river . wesley is retrieved by pekwarsky , who takes him to wesley 's late father 's apartment ( which is located just opposite to his own ) and explains that sloan started manufacturing targets for profit after discovering that he was targeted by the loom of fate , and he did not tell the fraternity members that they were now nothing more than paid killers . cross discovered the truth , went rogue , and started killing fraternity members to keep them away from his son . pekwarsky departs , stating that wesley 's father wished him a life free of violence . wesley , however , decides to kill sloan after discovering a secret room containing all of his father 's weapons and maps . after putting explosives on rats to access the fraternity 's headquarters , wesley kills nearly every fraternity member . upon entering sloan 's office , he reveals sloan 's deception to those present in the room . sloan reveals that all of the assassins ' names had come up in the weaving , and that he had acted to protect them . he gives the members a choice : kill themselves , per the code ; or kill wesley . the members are considering breaking the code and killing wesley , but fox , who believes more in the code , turns on her fellow assassins and curves a bullet that kills everyone but sloan and wesley . she throws her gun to distract wesley , before being killed by her own bullet . wesley pursues sloan to the now destroyed loom chamber , but sloan manages to escape . afterwards , wesley checks his bank account and sees that sloan has seized his funds , leaving wesley broke again . a man is seen at wesley 's desk much later . sloan appears and points a gun at the back of the man 's head . the man turns around and is revealed to be a decoy . sloan is killed by wesley using a long - distance bullet . wesley states his accomplishments , saying : " this is me taking control , from sloan , from the fraternity , from janice , from billing reports , from ergonomic keyboards , from cheating girlfriends , and sack - of - shit best friends . this is me taking back control of my life " , and asks the audience : " what the fuck have you done lately ? " cast james mcavoy as wesley gibson , a meek 24 - year - old who works in a cubicle , but learns he is heir to a career as an assassin . morgan freeman as sloan , leader of the fraternity and partner of wesley 's deceased father . angelina jolie as fox , an accomplished member of the fraternity who mentors wesley . thomas kretschmann as cross , a rogue assassin who has left the fraternity , and later revealed to be wesley 's real father . common as earl spellman a.k.a. " gunsmith " , a professional gunman who trains others to use weapons . konstantin khabensky as " the exterminator " , an expert in explosives who makes bombs and attaches them to rats . one of wesley 's only friends in the fraternity . marc warren as " the " , an assassin who says he " breaks bad habits " by violently beating people . trains wesley in hand - to - hand combat and endurance . dato as " the butcher " , a knife - expert . trains wesley in knife fighting . terence stamp as pekwarsky , a master in the science of killing . pekwarsky operates as a rogue agent outside of the fraternity . he is also a craftsman who is able to build bullets both untraceable and capable of traversing long distances . one of cross 's compatriots . david o 'hara as mr. x , the first fraternity member . said to be the greatest assassin , and believed to be wesley 's father . his murder is the catalyst for wesley 's introduction into the fraternity . he is killed by cross . chris pratt as barry , wesley 's co - worker and best friend , who is having an affair with wesley 's girlfriend . kristen hager as cathy , wesley 's unfaithful and bickering girlfriend . haque as puja lorna scott as janice , wesley 's overbearing boss . production pre - production and writing the 2003 - 04 comic book miniseries wanted , by mark millar and j. g. jones , came to the attention of universal pictures through executive jeff kirschenbaum , a comic book fan who sought a film adaptation that would be considered a " hard - r " and encouraged the studio to pick up the rights to the miniseries . by 2004 , producer marc platt had gotten the film rights , and lobbied the studio to get russian - kazakh director timur bekmambetov , as platt considered that the visual style and sensibility bekmambetov showed in night watch and day watch fit wanted as “ the comic is dark and edgy but it also has an ironic , comedic tone beneath its violent action ” . in december 2005 , bekmambetov was hired to helm the project , his first english - language film , and writers derek haas and michael brandt were assigned the script . bekmambetov described the original comic as " risky and very provocative " , with " a twist and good characters " , and declared that the thing that attracted him the most in wanted was how it went through various film genres in its plot : " it ’ s a comedy , a tragedy , a drama , a melodrama . every scene , we change genres and that ’ s why our movie is different . ” universal was initially reluctant on giving a potentially lucrative action film to a filmmaker who had never made an english - language film , but platt convinced the studio that he could “ create an environment that would allow timur to be himself as a filmmaker and exercise his creative muscles ” . millar did not like the first draft of the screenplay , considering that the approach was " too tame " and " a little bit americanized " given he wanted " basically be the opposite of the spider - man movie , the idea of someone getting powers and realizing they can do what they want , then choosing the dark path . " the author only started to support the direction the project was taking once bekmambetov " came in with his eastern european madness " and the intention of coming closer to the spirit of the book . bekmambetov said that he would take liberty in adapting the comic book 's world : " it ’ s difficult for me to just follow . it ’ s interesting for me to create . i feel a little bit different how this world has to be executed " . in july 2006 , screenwriter chris morgan was hired to revise the third act of the wanted script written by haas and brandt . haas and brandt returned to polish the character of wesley gibson , which they had established in their first draft . wanted co - creator mark millar saw previsualized footage for the film and said that the footage had raised his expectations for the film adaptation . millar described the first half of the film as being close to the graphic novel , and also said that the film 's ending was similar , though it was relocated elsewhere from the setting in the graphic novel . the superhero costumes in the series were also removed , with the exception of the leather attire worn by wesley and fox . coincidentally , this had been millar 's intent when writing the graphic novel , although he and artist j. g. jones had forgotten to . he said , " i wanted them to have those powers and then just wear those costumes for the initiation , but just for one panel . and then i forgot . " millar also stated that he would have liked to keep the supervillain mythos that dictates the original comic in the film . millar was favorable to most of the changes in the storyline , including the story arc of the fates issuing death orders in line with the series ' original theme of predestination . angelina jolie asked for fox to get killed , saying that " [ i ] f [ fox ] was to find out she had killed people unjustly and was a part of something that wasn 't fair , then she should take her own life . " casting james mcavoy , who had screen - tested for the role early in 2006 , was initially rejected because the studio was seeking an actor with conventional hollywood leading man looks and physique . mcavoy was later recalled , being considered the " runt of the litter " of those who tested . according to mcavoy , " they [ ultimately ] wanted someone geeky . " mcavoy was cast in the role in october 2006 . the scottish actor , who portrays an american in the film , worked out to improve his physique for the film 's action scenes , and suffered several injuries during shooting , including a twisted ankle and an injured knee . angelina jolie was cast in march 2007 , after screenwriter dean rewrote the screenplay to tailor the role of fox for her . mark millar became much more enthusiastic about the project after learning that jolie had accepted the role of fox , saying " the only way they could have got a bigger star to play this role is if they 'd hired tom cruise in drag . " jolie decided to make fox seem " distant and unattainable " by having her silent in many scenes . she mentioned clint eastwood , who had recently directed her in the film changeling , as a possible influence for this aspect of her performance . common became interested in the role due to both the script and the prospect of working with mcavoy , jolie , and morgan freeman . common learned a great deal about firearms as preparation for the role , but said he is not a strong supporter of guns in real life . konstantin khabensky , who starred in bekmambetov 's night watch , was cast so that the director would have a familiar face around . british television veteran marc warren agreed to work in the film because he always wanted to be in a hollywood blockbuster . thomas kretschmann originally intended to pick up the comic series after being cast , but bekmambetov convinced him not to . he said that he " did excessive gun training " to " make sure i look good and i look like i know what i 'm doing " . kristen hager originally auditioned for fox , but accepted the role of cathy , considering it " fun to play " . filming location plate shooting took place in chicago in april 2007 . several chase scenes , including one with a low flying helicopter , were shot in chicago over two days , on wacker drive along the chicago river , between columbus drive and lasalle street . the opening scene was filmed using the carbide & carbon building . production moved to the czech republic later in may , scheduled for 12 weeks of shooting . using a former sugar factory in prague , production designer john myhre constructed a large textile factory as part of an industrial world , the setting of a mythological environment in which looms create fabrics that weavers interpret as assassination orders . afterward , filming moved to budapest , then returned to chicago in august . while the actors performed many of their own stunts , with free running and parkour in some of the action scenes , and angelina jolie being actually strapped to the hood of a moving dodge viper , some of the especially high - risk sequences required digital doubles instead . two full - sized train cars were built , a chicago ' l ' for a training scene where fox and wesley run atop a train , and a czech pendolino for the derailment , which was stationed in a gimbal equipped with hydraulics to allow the car to tilt and roll as the train crashed . the film originally had both an alternate opening and an alternate ending . the alternate opening , a flashback to ancient times describing the history of the fraternity and the loom of fate , is available on the special edition dvd and blu - ray . effects eight visual effects companies worked on the film 's 800 effects shots , the majority of which was done by bekmambetov 's company bazelevs production . the first effects supervisor , jon farhat , was forced to withdraw from the production due to illness and was replaced by stefen fangmeier , who accepted the task as wanted would only require four months of work . once fangmeier visited bazelevs in moscow , the effects were behind schedule , with only 12 finished composites out of the planned 500 . then brought two other supervisors to assist him in finishing many shots per week , so the job could get done by the deadline , a process the supervisor described as " a creative challenge on one hand , but on the other also a significant production challenge . " another major contributor was london - based framestore , responsible for the climactic train crash . music danny elfman wrote the film 's score , a job he accepted for being a fan of bekmambetov 's previous films . considering the film to be a " weird , twisted , sarcastic thing , " elfman decided to make a guitar - based soundtrack , with the " nastiest sounds " and a " heavy metal approach . " this included a rock song written and performed by elfman , " the little things " , which is featured throughout the film and on the end credits . the film score has been released on june 24 , 2008 in north america by lakeshore records . release and promotion wanted was initially set to be released in cinemas on march 28 , 2008 . however , in december 2007 , universal pictures announced that it would be pushing back the release date to june 27 , 2008 , as the studio considered that the film had the potential to stand among the blockbusters that would be released during the united states summer . the film 's world premiere happened at the los angeles film festival on june 19 , with wanted acting as the festival opener . given the russian origin of the director , universal released a specially localized version in russia . the literary translation of the english dialog was written by the writer sergey . several texts appearing on the screen and important for the plot were translated using cgi , without using subtitles or a voice - over translation . several famous russian actors , most of which were also in bekmambetov 's night watch and day watch , dubbed the main characters , and konstantin khabensky dubbed himself as the exterminator . james mcavoy also provided some words in russian for wesley gibson . danny elfman 's song " the little things " received a version in russian , performed by elfman himself , and bekmambetov also directed a music video for the band delta as part of a viral marketing campaign in russia . theatrical run wanted debuted in 3 , 185 theaters and earned $ 50 , 927 , 085 in its opening weekend , placing it at second place after wall - e. it was the best opening ever for an r - rated film released in june , only surpassed four years later by both prometheus and ted . internationally , the film grossed $ 33 million on its opening weekend , breaking records in russia and south korea . wanted grossed $ 341 , 433 , 252 , of which $ 134 , 508 , 551 was from north america and $ 206 , 924 , 701 was from elsewhere . home video wanted was released on dvd and blu - ray on december 2 , 2008 in the u.s. two versions were released , including a single - disc dvd and a two - disc edition of both the dvd and blu - ray . a collectible two - disc gift - set dvd also included collectible postcards , a lenticular film cel in an acrylic frame , and a photobook of the assassins . the dvd debuted at second place on the charts ( behind the chronicles of narnia : prince caspian ) , and generated over $ 65 million in revenue by february 2009 . the blu - ray debuted at first place on the charts . video games sweden - based developer ab launched a browser game based on wanted on april 2008 . the wanted " fan immersion game " was a massively multiplayer online role - playing game where players took the roles of fraternity hitmen , performing assassination missions , upgrading weapons and ammunition , and creating alliances or rivalries with other players . a video game sequel to the events of the film , wanted : weapons of fate , was released on march 2009 . it was developed by , and published by warner bros. interactive entertainment for microsoft windows , playstation 3 , and xbox 360 . reception the film received positive reviews from critics . review aggregator rotten tomatoes gives the film a score of 72 % based on reviews from 200 critics , with a rating average of 6 . 6 out of 10 . the site 's general consensus reads : " wanted is stylish , energetic popcorn fare with witty performances from angelina jolie ( playing an expert assassin ) , james mcavoy , and morgan freeman that help to distract from its absurdly over - the - top plot . " metacritic , which assigns a weighted mean rating based on reviews from film critics , gives the film a score of 64 out of 100 , based on 38 reviews , indicating " generally favorable reviews . " roger ebert of ebert & roeper said " wanted slams the pedal to the metal and never slows down . here 's an action picture that 's exhausting in its relentless violence and its ingenuity in inventing new ways to attack , defend , ambush and annihilate " . richard roeper said , " it 's made for fans of films that really just want to see some great visuals , some amazing sequences and some terrific performances . " lisa schwarzbaum of entertainment weekly encapsulated many critics ' views , saying that " wanted is kind of unintelligible and idiotic . also kind of nasty and brutish . and also undeniably kind of fun ... " likewise , tom long of the detroit news said , " wanted may be the most absolutely stone bonkers , crazy - good movie of the century . or it may be a gargantuan piece of trash . chances are it 's a combination of the two . but man , does it rock . " claudia puig of usa today found the " thrilling stunts and hyperkinetic action scenes [ to be ] the undisputed stars of this surprisingly entertaining film . " conversely , john rosenblatt of the austin chronicle denounced those same attributes , saying , " if maxim magazine ever decides to branch out into filmmaking , wanted is just the kind of ear - throttling nonsense it 's bound to produce " . david fear of time out new york called it " the cinematic equivalent of an energy drink . the film keeps artificially pumping your adrenal glands with mindless , sensations , only to leave you and cranky minutes later . ... [ t ] his exercise in ultraviolence then insults us by having a beaten , bloodied mcavoy inform viewers that he used to be a loser ' just like all of you . ' " frank lovece of film journal international , one of few mainstream critics to have read the comic - book miniseries , said that the film compared poorly with the source material . noting that the hero in the comic goes even further , " breaking the fourth wall and positioning himself so that he 's ' prison - raping ' and taunting the reader for having liked the series " , lovece found that , " [ w ] hile millar may have contempt for his readers — and , by extension , the medium in which he works — at least he has his own vision , and gets it across with style and wit " ; qualities that , in lovece 's opinion , the movie lacked . in the comics press , erik amaya of comic book resources said that " [ t ] he film 's biggest faults lie in how far it strays from the source " and that " [ i ] f you 've ever seen any movie about leather - clad assassins , you already know how this film plays out . the speed and skill of the movie - making balance out those faults , however . " tom mclean of newsarama noted that , while the story deviated strongly from the source , the movie " stands out as a highly entertaining action film that preserves the comic 's core premise and cheeky attitude while taking the story into very different but still satisfying territory . " among european critics , peter bradshaw of the guardian said that the film " looks as if it has been written by a committee of 13 - year - old boys for whom penetrative sex is still only a rumour , and the resulting movie plays like a party political broadcast on behalf of the misogynist party " , concluding , " in an ideal world , the title would have the word ' not ' tacked on to the front . " kim newman , writing in empire , praised bekmambetov as " the most exciting action - oriented since john woo " and commented that the film 's gruesome violence " hint [ s ] at the comic 's uncomfortable suggestion that escapism is merely a licence to become monstrous . " wanted won the empire award for best sci - fi / superhero movie of 2008 . the film was nominated for two academy awards ; for best sound editing and best sound mixing ( chris jenkins , frank a. montaño , and petr ) . it was also nominated for the critics choice award for best action movie , the saturn award for best fantasy film , three mtv movie awards , and the screen actors guild award for outstanding performance by a stunt ensemble . sequel even before the film 's release , mark millar announced director timur bekmambetov was planning a sequel , though millar denied that he would write a sequel to the comic book . he was instead creating a story along with the producers , that would follow the first film 's idea of an international guild of assassins . terence stamp described pekwarsky as " something that 's written for a sequel " , and common expressed interest in a prequel , feeling that both the gunsmith and fox deserved more exposition . chris morgan would return to write the sequel 's screenplay , but departed on april 2009 due to " excessive workload " , leaving the task to evan spiliotopoulos . on june 2009 , bekmambetov said that pre - production for wanted 2 was about to get started , with filming scheduled to begin in late fall or winter . the film will have a reported budget of $ 150 million and will be shot in the united states , india , and russia . he also added that some of the characters would resurrect , particularly fox and the exterminator . on september , the director added that even without a finished script bazelevs had already done previsualization of the action scenes . in 2010 , after reports that angelina jolie had pulled out of the sequel , millar said that the script would be rewritten to remove fox 's return , so production could start that year for a late 2011 release . eventually the production did not take off , leading bekmambetov to work on abraham lincoln : vampire hunter instead . in a 2011 q & a , producer jim said that " wanted 2 sounds like it will not happen any time soon if at all " . that same year , james mcavoy said , regarding the sequel , " i think the studio is keen to make it , and we really want to make it , but we want to make it if it 's right and when it 's right , and that might not be ever . " mcavoy also expressed interest in a sequel focusing on a character other than wesley . universal later brought wanted screenwriters michael brandt and derek haas to write the sequel , which haas described as happening " right after the events that just happened ; it 'll pick up wesley a few years later and go back in for another round " , while also being " fox - less and loom - less . " haas would later detail that the script featured a new female protagonist , who wesley would recruit " sort of in the fox role . " bekmambetov declared during the interviews for abraham lincoln : vampire hunter that after many years of indecision as the wanted sequel stalled in development , he proposed an idea to the screenwriters wherein the plot followed wesley while featuring " a great twist . " mcavoy declared that since he " had a blast making the first wanted " , he would make a sequel regardless of the quality of the script ; however , he also acknowledged that the extended time the film spent in development " suggests to me that they 're not finding it very easy to come up with a story that they 're passionate about , so we 'll have to wait and see . " in 2014 , mcavoy acknowledged that a potential sequel has been in the talks , saying he " had a couple of versions of script thrown my way " while adding that universal is still waiting for the right screenplay .