New thriller movie from In Bruges director gets exciting first plot details

EXCLUSIVE: The new film from director Martin McDonagh (Banshees of Inisherin, In Bruges) sees him reuniting with Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards), with the actor revealing details of the thriller to JOE.

Up until now, details about the pair's new collaboration, aside from its cast, had been kept under wraps. However, when JOE spoke to Rockwell about his very fun new animated action-comedy, The Bad Guys 2 (for more on that chat, click here), we asked him about working with McDonagh and their new film.

While Rockwell didn't go too deep into specifics, he did provide some new plot details for Wild Horse Nine.

"Martin is lovely. It's John Malkovich and me and Parker Posey, and Steve Buscemi. It's a hell of a [cast].

"It's 1970s, CIA, fun stuff, guns and things like that… I got a moustache."

As well as Three Billboards, McDonagh and Rockwell worked together on the comedy film Seven Psychopaths and on the play A Behanding in Spokane when it was performed on Broadway.

In fact, McDonagh (who also made The Banshees of Inisherin and In Bruges) once said of the actor: “Whenever I write an American character, I’ve always got Sam’s voice in my head.

"He’s so consistently surprising. You can never quite put your finger on him, whether he’s the hero type or the bad guy. There’s a danger and an edge, but he’s got great comic timing too."

Also part of the cast for their '70s CIA thriller is singer Tom Waits (who was also in Seven Psychopaths), as well as Chilean actress Mariana di Girolamo (Ema).

Having commenced filming in March 2025, Wild Horse Nine is set for a 2026 release.

Rockwell is currently in cinemas as the star of The Bad Guys 2, an animated movie in which he plays Mr. Wolf, an anthropomorphic animal thief who wishes to turn his life around and become good.

When JOE spoke to the Oscar-winner about the action-comedy, we noted that there is a meta element to his casting as Wolf, given that he started his career playing lots of darker character and villains but has recently taken on more heroic roles in the likes of Argyle, See How They Run and the upcoming sci-fi Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die.

On this, Rockwell joked:

"I've been lucky. I think I finally look like a grown ass man, maybe.

"I have a young face, and it took a while for my face to look sort of semi-manly.

"Now, I look old, but I did look young for a long time."

The Bad Guys 2 is in cinemas now.