In the film, Michael Bryce (Reynolds) must protect Darius Kincaid, an imprisoned hitman (Jackson), who is on his way to testify at the International Criminal Court against a sadistic Eastern European dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Oldman).

Michael Bryce lives a luxurious life as a successful UK-based private bodyguard, until his client Takashi Kurosawa, an international arms dealer, is assassinated on his watch.

Unable to secure solid evidence or testimony against him, the prosecution's last hope is incarcerated hitman Darius Kincaid, who agrees to testify against Dukhovich in exchange for the release of his wife Sonia from prison.

Led by Interpol Agent Amelia Roussel, an armed convoy escorts him from the UK to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

With the aid of treacherous Interpol Assistant Director Jean Foucher, Dukhovich's men successfully ambush the convoy as it passes through Coventry and kill most of the security team.

[10] While originally intended as a drama, the script underwent a "frantic" two-week rewrite to be remade into a comedy several weeks prior to filming.

[2][6] In North America, The Hitman's Bodyguard was released alongside Logan Lucky and the wide expansion of Wind River, and was projected to gross $17–20 million from 3,350 theaters in its opening weekend.

The site's critical consensus reads, "The Hitman's Bodyguard coasts on Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds' banter—but doesn't get enough mileage to power past an overabundance of action-comedy clichés.

[17] Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a positive review and called it a pleasant late-summer surprise, writing: "The Hitman's Bodyguard is about as close to a live-action cartoon as you're likely to get this year... That's not a style that works much of the time... but in the hands of The Expendables 3 helmer Patrick Hughes—and more importantly, owing to the chemistry of stars Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds—it makes for a delightfully ridiculous screwball action comedy.

"[7] Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers praised the cast, giving it 2.5 stars out of 4 and saying, "Reynolds and Jackson make this summer lunacy go down easy with their banter and bullet-dodging skills.

"[23] In May 2018, it was announced that Reynolds, Jackson, and Hayek were in early talks to reprise their roles for a sequel, titled Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, with plans to begin filming later in the year.