Our first look at Lionsgate’s action-comedy American Ultra has arrived, and the Adventureland reunion between stars Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg actually looks like it could function as a genuine sequel to Greg Mottola’s underrated coming-of-age drama. Written by Chronicle scribe Max Landis and directed by Nima Nourizadeh (Project X), the story finds a stoner (Eisenberg) and his girlfriend’s (Stewart) life disrupted when a government operation descends upon their small town with the aim of wiping the stoner out.
The picture begins as a romance, with Eisenberg’s character aiming to propose to his longtime girlfriend, but it’s soon revealed that he’s actually a sleeper agent. While the movie definitely has an action bent, Nourizadeh explains to MTV that at heart it’s a love story:
“You start with this kind of like sweet love story,” Nourizadeh said. “I don’t want to turn people off with that, but what’s really unique about this movie is the fact that it’s like this kind of crazy action-comedy, but really at the core there is this like romance and there’s this love story where all he wants to do is to propose to her. Really if you look at it, the action that comes into play is basically the stuff that’s softening it. It’s like the hurdles that you have to like overcome.”
The premise kind of sounds Pineapple Express-esque, and these first-look posters certainly have a strong “stoner movie” vibe. We’ll no doubt get our first look at footage soon by way of a debut trailer, but for now check out the posters below via Lionsgate. American Ultra also stars Walton Goggins, Connie Britton, Bill Pullman, Topher Grace and Tony Hale and opens in theaters on August 21st.
