From “Better Call Saul” to Better Call for Backup: How Bob Odenkirk and 87North Are Redefining Action Comedy

In just six years, including five of the film industry’s most challenging periods, powerhouse filmmakers David Leitch and Kelly McCormick have founded and grown 87North Productions, making it a formidable force in Hollywood and beyond.

Anchored in the action genre, the production and action design company’s catalog includes the third and fourth John Wick movies, Bullet Train, Violent Night, The Fall Guy, Nobody, and now its sequel.

The sequel sees Bob Odenkirk reprise the role of ex-government assassin and family man Hutch Mansell, who leaves his double life behind in suburbia and heads off on a family vacation. However, trouble follows, and before too long, a chain of events unravels secrets about the pasts of both him and his wife. As well as Odenkirk, Nobody 2 boasts a starry ensemble cast that includes Connie Nielsen, John Ortiz, RZA, Colin Hanks, Christopher Lloyd, and Sharon Stone.

Here, McCormick and Leitch explain the secret of their successes both on screen and as a business, tapping into Canada’s amazing creative talent base, and more.   

87North continues to grow and evolve. What is the key to your success?

David Leitch: We try to make audience pleasers and put the audience first. Are they going to enjoy this? Is it going to be an entertaining ride? Is this worth going to the theater for? We also focus on material that features a relatable, iconic character in the middle. When you look at Hutch in the Nobody movies, Santa in Violent Night, or The Fall Guy or Bullet Train, they’re action movies and sometimes comedies, but they’re always character films. There are many actors who get to chew up the scenes, delivering great character work and connecting with the audience. When you do that, you set yourself up for potential sequels because people want to go on continuing adventures. That’s where our brand is focused.

Kelly McCormick: We have a style book and pillars. It’s about boldness and being entertaining. These commitments guide our choices, keeping us focused on what to do and what to avoid, and ensuring we stay true to our values. We also want to be good partners to everybody in the process, from the creatives to our financiers and studio partners. We’re thoughtful across the board.

For Nobody 2, you created Midwestern Americana in Winnipeg, Manitoba. You made the first film there, too. What was the draw to return?

McCormick: We love Winnipeg. We’ve created a film family there. Before we got there, they mainly made Hallmark movies. Now that we’re going into our fifth picture there, we’ve grown a team of action filmmakers who will turn down other projects to work on ours, even if they’re offering them more salary. It’s amazing. They’re a loyal bunch of committed, dedicated artists and skilled crafts people who want to give it their all. Also, they want to stay in Winnipeg. They love it there. What we did best in Nobody 2 was to make it seem like we weren’t in the same place. That was down to the impressive work by the production designer, our locations team, and our commitment to finding things we had never seen before in Winnipeg. The carnival is about 20 minutes out of town. It’s a real water park and that is a summer carnival. We ended up having to shoot after they were finished with their summer season. We extended their rental for about two weeks, and they fed us with cotton candy. It was great fun.

Is everything there that you need?

McCormick: Depending on the movie, we bring in three to five stunt teams, some of whom are from other places in Canada. However, there is a crew of stunt performers we use in Winnipeg called Skene Stunts. We’re building a little bit of strength there, too, and giving people another reason to get into the business and hone the craft as locals. We typically bring in a DP, who then utilizes the rest of the team we’ve built there. The operators and the assistants are running our DPs on other projects, too. Our films have such a specific look that we add a DP that we’ve worked with before every time.

Does filming in Canada give you more bang for your buck?

McCormick: Between the incentives and the exchange rate, it’s almost unbeatable for this size film, and especially when you don’t need a specific landscape in any way. They are film-friendly, and they want the work. When we shot Nobody 2, there were four other films there. They are partly growing because of the exposure they’ve had because of us. There are other things too, but they’re doing it right, and the unions are really helpful.

You continue to grow the 87North team in the US. Is 87North Canada part of the evolution? 

McCormick: We do have a little postage stamp in Vancouver. After Deadpool 2, we put a little plot there. We do all of our post on these little movies there. We have a hub and a couple of stunt performers that we work with regularly.

Leitch: Having been a stunt performer for so long, during the heyday of my career, I worked all over the world. We weren’t making movies in the States at that time, so I have connections to stunt teams all over. When we go to different places, we reconnect with old friends who are fostering young stunt performers. One of our unique skills is that we have access to that international base.

Italy was discussed as a possible location for Nobody 2, but the family headed to the Midwest. Could we see Nobody 3 go international and utilize that creative network?

Leitch: You’re right, we had talked about that in the beginning. In the first film, they mentioned their vacation in Italy; however, we focused on making it more of an Americana experience in this one, but nothing’s off the table. When you create such a lovable, relatable character, the world is our oyster in terms of where we want to take it. It’ll be a case of getting the team together and brainstorming something fun the audience will love. 

McCormick: The family is at the core of both movies. We’ve grown Connie’s character, Becca, and RZA’s Harry in this movie, and honestly, the kids, too, to the point where I wonder what we can do with them next. It’s about how they’ll fall out of sync, and we’ll bring them back together. We can do that in many places and various ways.

Movies like Nobody 2 still work on streaming, but they play best in theaters. How can we consistently bring audiences back to the movies?

Leitch: There are a lot of people with a lot of different interests scratching their heads, including the theater owners, the studios, and the filmmakers. We all want this to happen. It’s a combination of several factors. We need to make entertaining films. We need to make diverse films across different genres to attract audiences. We’re alienating all these other people and their genres. To do all that costs money, so the studios have to reconcile that with their advertising budgets. Then, the theater owners have to make the theaters comfortable and make those experiences worth the $100 that it takes to bring a family. All those conversations have to happen within the industry, and everyone has to do their part to keep this thing alive. It’s not one-sided. 

Audiences are increasingly savvy when it comes to picking how the movie they are seeing is being presented, whether that is IMAX or Dolby. Is it heartening to know they understand and appreciate that?

Leitch: It is because you put a lot of effort into all the details. When you’re working in post with your great sound team, the visual effects team, or your great colorist, you’re doing it because you want it to be experienced on the highest quality system. There are hours and hours of people’s lives that go into making that experience and enhancing it. It’s exciting to see the blacks being super black, to experience Dolby Surround Sound, and see large formats, all of which can only happen in the theater.

What does the future look like for 87North?

McCormick: We will have made six films by the end of this year, which will be released over two years. We are moving on to Violent Night 2 from our current location in Pittsburgh, where we’re making a movie, and we’ve got some exciting things lined up for next year. Honestly, we feel incredibly fortunate to be making movies, and we’re working hard to be thoughtful about the ones we choose, ensuring they’re worthy of both theatrical release and your time.

Nobody 2 is in theaters now.