Wanted is a 2008 action thriller film directed by Timur Bekmambetov and written by Michael Brandt, Derek Haas and Chris Morgan, loosely based on the comic book miniseries by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones.

The film stars James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretschmann, Common and Chris Pratt.

In Chicago, Wesley Allan Gibson works at a dead-end desk job with an overbearing boss, takes medication for panic attacks, and lives with his abrasive girlfriend Cathy who cheats on him with his co-worker and best friend, Barry.

Sloan explains that Wesley's panic attacks are actually a rare ability that allows him to produce massive amounts of adrenaline, granting him superhuman strength and speed.

Wesley's father and Cross were members of the Fraternity, a society of assassins that maintains balance in the world, headquartered in a repurposed textile mill.

When his training is complete, Sloan shows him the "Loom of Fate", which has served for 1,000 years in supplying coded names of targets through deliberate imperfections in the fabric.

After free-falling into a river, Wesley is retrieved by Pekwarsky, who explains that Sloan started manufacturing targets for profit after his name appeared in the Loom.

[6] By 2004, producer Marc Platt had gotten the film rights, and lobbied the studio to get Russian-Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov, as Platt considered that the visual style and sensibility Bekmambetov showed in Night Watch (2004) and its sequel Day Watch (2006) fit Wanted in the sense that "the comic is dark and edgy but it also has an ironic, comedic tone beneath its violent action.

"[7] In December 2005, Bekmambetov was hired to direct, his first English-language film, and writers Derek Haas and Michael Brandt were assigned the script.

[8] Bekmambetov described the original comic as "risky and very provocative", with "a twist and good characters",[9] and declared that the thing that attracted him the most in Wanted was how it went through various film genres in its plot: "It's a comedy, a tragedy, a drama, a melodrama.

The author only started to support the direction the project was taking once Bekmambetov "came in with his Eastern European madness" and the intention of coming closer to the spirit of the book.

[10] Millar was favorable to most of the changes in the storyline,[14] which includes the story arc of the Fates issuing death orders in line with the series' original theme of predestination.

[15] James McAvoy, who had screen-tested for the role early in 2006, was initially rejected because the studio was seeking an actor with conventional Hollywood leading man looks and physique.

[31] While the actors performed many of their own stunts, with free running and parkour in some of the action scenes,[16] and Angelina Jolie being actually strapped to the hood of a moving Dodge Viper, some of the especially high-risk sequences required digital doubles instead.

[37] The alternate opening, a flashback to ancient times describing the history of the Fraternity and the Loom of Fate, is available on the special edition DVD and Blu-ray.

The first effects supervisor, Jon Farhat, was forced to withdraw from the production due to illness and was replaced by Stefen Fangmeier, who accepted the task as Wanted would only require four months of work.

Considering the film to be a "weird, twisted, sarcastic thing," Elfman decided to make a guitar-based soundtrack, with the "nastiest sounds" and a "heavy metal approach."

[46] Overall, it achieved the seventh-highest opening weekend for an R-rated film, after The Matrix Reloaded, The Passion of the Christ, 300, Sex and the City, Hannibal and 8 Mile.

The site's critics consensus reads: "Wanted is stylish, energetic popcorn fare with witty performances from Angelina Jolie (playing an expert assassin), James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman that help to distract from its absurdly over-the-top plot.

[57] Richard Roeper wrote, "It's made for fans of films that really just want to see some great visuals, some amazing sequences and some terrific performances.

And also undeniably kind of fun..."[59] Likewise, Tom Long of The Detroit News wrote, "Wanted may be the most absolutely stone bonkers, crazy-good movie of the century.

"[60] Claudia Puig of USA Today found the "thrilling stunts and hyperkinetic action scenes [to be] the undisputed stars of this surprisingly entertaining film.

"[61] Conversely, Josh Rosenblatt of The Austin Chronicle denounced those same attributes, saying, "If Maxim magazine ever decides to branch out into filmmaking, Wanted is just the kind of ear-throttling nonsense it's bound to produce".

"[67] Kim Newman, writing in Empire, praised Bekmambetov as "the most exciting action-oriented émigré since John Woo" and commented that the film's gruesome violence "hint[s] at the comic's uncomfortable suggestion that escapism is merely a licence to become monstrous.

[77] Terence Stamp described Pekwarsky as "something that's written for a sequel",[78] and Common expressed interest in a prequel, feeling that both The Gunsmith and Fox deserved more exposition.

[79] Chris Morgan would return to write the sequel's screenplay,[80] but departed in April 2009 due to "excessive workload", leaving the task to Evan Spiliotopoulos.

[83] In 2010, after reports that Angelina Jolie had pulled out of the sequel,[84] Millar said that the script would be rewritten to remove Fox's return, so production could start that year for a late 2011 release.

"[90] Bekmambetov declared during the interviews for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter that after many years of indecision as the Wanted sequel stalled in development, he proposed an idea to the screenwriters wherein the plot followed Wesley while featuring "a great twist.

"[91] In 2014, McAvoy acknowledged that a potential sequel has been in the talks, saying he "had a couple of versions of script thrown my way" while adding that Universal is still waiting for the right screenplay.

[92] In June 2020, Bekmambetov expressed renewed interest in a sequel, perhaps as a computer screen film because "I cannot imagine an assassin in today's world would run with a gun.