Fight or Flight lands on our screens very soon as a new plane-set action thriller that sounds like Bullet Train meets John Wick. It stars Trap actor Josh Hartnett as a mercenary tasked with finding a mysterious criminal on a flight, only to realize he's also competing with a plane full of other assassins.
The first trailer gave viewers a hint at the carnage that ensues, with some sequences including a chainsaw, a drinks cart, and a drug-fuelled bathroom tussle. However, one of the biggest talking points was the Oppenheimer actor's distinct new peroxide blonde hair for the role, and it turns out it was all his idea.
"That was my decision, I campaigned for that," he tells 12DOVE when we ask if he had to be sold on it. "I just thought this guy's been hiding out in the same city for a long time, living in Bangkok, and he is being chased by a lot of people, probably has had to fight his way out of a few corners.
"He's over his situation, he is probably trying to evade through all sorts of different tactics. And at this point, this is the remnants of what he is, he's drinking all the time, he's got the remnants of a disguise from, obviously, a couple of months ago because the hair is growing in underneath it and he's just sort of giving up generally – and then this comes into play. I don't think he's a vain person either."
Hartnett had to train hard for the role too, which saw him performing his own stunts for the first time in 20 years. The graft paid off though as the actor recalls some of his favorite action sequences in the movie.
"I mean, they were all fun," he smiles. "I thought the bathroom sequence was a lot of fun just because I got to play with the barbiturate aspect of it, and any time we were able to introduce a sort of very different state of mind to the fight sequences. So in the end, as well, which I don't want to give too much away, when he's kind of in a different place himself, that was fun."
Hartnett adds that he loved working with the stunt team too: "They obviously do this all the time. I'm a novice. I'm in my 40s, like, how do we make this feel real and also kinetic and exciting for the audience?"
Fight or Flight releases on Sky Cinema on February 28. For more, check out our guides to 2025 movie release dates and upcoming movies.
