The big free-TV premiere this Friday evening is called The Man From Toronto and promises lots of action and humorFor almost two hours we follow the unlikely duo of Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson through a story full of unexpected twists and misunderstandings.
But the biggest question is: How can it be that a Netflix film is shown on free TV? The streaming service usually keeps its original productions exclusively in his own catalogue To answer this question, we need to take a closer look at the history of the creation of The Man from Toronto.
Today on TV: In The Man from Toronto, a simple man is mistaken for a contract killer
The Man from Toronto is a classic comedy of errors with a decent amount of action. The story begins with Teddy (Kevin Hart), who is a inconspicuous life and one day he is surprised by a group of criminals who are firmly convinced that he is the infamous “Man from Toronto”.
You can watch the trailer for The Man from Toronto here:
The Man From Toronto – Trailer (German subtitles) HD
But Teddy has no idea what the rough gentlemen are babbling about. No wonder, because the real man from Toronto is actually called Randy (Woody Harrelson) and is a legendary assassinWhen the two actually meet, chaos is complete. Whether they want to or not, they now have to work together.
The Man from Toronto premiered on Netflix on June 22, 2022 and draws heavily on the dynamism of its stars. The constant back and forth between Hart and Harrelson carries the greatest entertainment value in the action comedy directed by Patrick Hughes (Killer’s Bodyguard). Originally, however, everything was planned quite differently.
Netflix or cinema? The Man from Toronto has a chaotic history behind it
The Man from Toronto was announced in January 2020 – but not as a Netflix production. Sony wanted to bring the film to the cinema at the timeas Deadline reported. In addition to Hart, the traditional studio relied on the star power of Jason Statham, who had previously led numerous action films to box office success.
Six weeks before filming began, the first shock came: Statham left the production because he had disagreed with the producers about the tonal direction of the film failedas the Hollywood Reporter summarizes. Woody Harrelson was hired as a replacement. Filming could finally begin. And then the pandemic came.
Hollywood stood still and so did the production of The Man from Toronto. It quickly became clear that the November 2020 launch date targeted by Sony could not be met. September 2021 was chosen as the new launch date, but that didn’t stay that way for long either. January 2022 or August?
After three postponements, Variety announced that Sony was cancelling the theatrical release and would be releasing the film to Netflix. Why is The Man from Toronto still on TV today? It’s simple: The Netflix deal at the time included only the streaming rightsSony has retained the linear broadcasting rights for itself.
Although Netflix marks The Man from Toronto with a red N as a Netflix Original, the film is technically closer to a license title than a real original. Last but not least, the streaming exclusivity was temporary. The film can now also be streamed by other VoD providers with various purchase and rental options.
When is The Man from Toronto on TV?
The Man from Toronto is on tonight on August 9, 2024 at 8:15 p.m. on ProSiebenThe free TV premiere runs until 10:35 p.m. The repeat follows on Sunday at 10:30 p.m. Alternatively, you can stream the action film on Netflix with a subscription.