For months, the title Hit Man has been a kind of password among moviegoers who attended the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals last year—a promise that as uncertain as the rest of the 2024 film calendar might look, there was one sure thing coming down the pike. Now that Netflix has released the first teaser trailer for Hit Man, we’re thrilled to introduce you to another password: “All pie is good pie.”

That’s the code phrase that Glen Powell’s Gary Johnson uses with prospective clients to confirm that they are, in fact, the ones seeking out the services of a hit man. But as Johnson makes it clear at the very beginning of the film, there’s actually no such thing as a hit man — it’s an idea we’ve picked up from Hollywood, and one the New Orleans Police Department is using to catch anyone feeling murderous enough to actually try hiring one. Gary Johnson is the mild-mannered professor who becomes their faux hit man, a simple enough job until a mysterious woman (Adria Arjona, seen here in the teaser) tries to book his services. 

Hit Man was a smash hit at its Venice and Toronto premieres — the mid-movie applause break has already become the stuff of legend — and when Netflix picked it up after the festival, it felt like a real mixed blessing. Yes, the Richard Linklater-directed film (co-written with Powell) deserved to be seen by as wide an audience as possible, and pretty much no one can rival Netflix for sheer eyeballs. But Netflix usually treats theatrical releases as an afterthought, putting films on the minimum required screens to qualify for Oscars and otherwise funneling everyone toward their platform. 

Last year’s Glass Onion, a sequel to another smash festival hit, showed there’s another way, securing a week-long theatrical release before it hit Netflix and picking up some significant cash in the process. It seems they’re ready to try that strategy again with Hit Man. With the film currently at the Sundance Film Festival, Netflix has announced that Hit Man will land on Netflix in select countries on June 7, with “a limited theatrical release prior.” Glass Onion was released on just 600 screens in North America, so it’s possible that’s what “limited” means — but if Netflix ever wanted to further expand their theatrical release, this would be a good film to try it with. 

After all, Powell is fresh off the success of not just Top Gun: Maverick but winter’s surprise success Anyone But You, a rom-com that has made $100 million worldwide and shown remarkable box office staying power. Hit Man is a different kind of film, inspired by noir and a little bit of a true crime, but with fiery romantic connection at its center and some spectacular comic set pieces, it‘s a crowdpleaser in every possible way. Powell looks like our best possible answer to the modern problem of minting movie stars — and with a robust theatrical release, Hit Man ought to be yet another chance to prove it.