Love Hurts: Everything to Know About Ke Huy Quan's New Action-Comedy
Love Hurts arrives exclusively on the big screen Friday, February 7.
Ke Huy Quan follows up his butt-kicking Oscar-winning role in Everything Everywhere All at Once with even more butt-kicking in Love Hurts, the latest action-centric project from 87North (the production banner behind John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Bullet Train, Violent Night, Nobody, and The Fall Guy). The project was directed by longtime stunt coordinator JoJo Eusebio in his feature debut.
“We’ve wanted JoJo to direct for a long time,” producer and 87North co-founder Kelly McCormick said in a statement. “Actors love working with him. Whenever he’s training actors for films, he’s the one they turn to. They have his phone number faster than anyone else’s, and he’s great at becoming their ambassador, helping them connect to their characters in the action space. That ability to build rapport and trust with actors gave me confidence that he could bring those same skills to directing. We were thrilled to see him tell a story that resonated with him — one that blended Eastern and Western philosophies in its action.”
What is Love Hurts about?
Written by Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard, and Luke Passmore, Love Hurts (originally titled Gable when Stoddard and Murray wrote the initial draft two decades ago) centers around the character of Marvin Gable, a mild-mannered realtor working in the suburbs of Milwaukee. His seemingly peaceful existence is suddenly shattered by the arrival of a cryptic message tucked inside a crimson envelope: "Hiding isn't living." Turns out Marvin was once a deadly hitman, but decided to leave the criminal underworld behind in favor of a quieter life, which turns very noisy once his old colleagues turn up with less-than-admirable intentions.
“When I first read the script 20 years ago, I was immediately drawn to it,” says producer David Leitch (The Fall Guy). “I loved the character’s duality— Marvin Gable, this guy selling the American dream through real estate as a form of redemption, while also carrying a past as a mob hitman. That blend creates a fascinating internal conflict. Josh and Matthew crafted such a rich world; the characters really leapt off the page and the dialogue was fantastic."
Who stars in Love Hurts?
Oscar-winner Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once) takes the lead in Love Hurts as Marvin Gable, a happy-go-lucky Wisconsin realtor with a deep, dark secret that will propel him back into a dangerous world of hitmen and double crosses. Fellow Academy Award recipient Ariana DeBose (Steven Spielberg's West Side Story) co-stars as Rose, Marvin's former partner-in-crime, whom he left for dead years before. Spoiler alert: She's not very happy with Marvin.
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The ensemble also includes Daniel Wu (Tomb Raider) as Alvin "Knuckles" Gable, Marvin's volatile crime-lord brother; Mustafa Shakir (Luke Cage) as Roger — aka "The Raven" — a skilled assassin with a love of poetry; Lio Tipton (Crazy, Stupid, Love.) as Ashley, Marvin's real estate assistant; Cam Gigandet (Violent Night) as Renny Merlo, a cunning lieutenant in Knuckles' criminal organization; Super Bowl champion Marshawn “Beastmode” Lynch and André Eriksen (Violent Night) as King and Otis, a pair of endearing enforcers; Rhys Darby (Our Flag Means Death) as Kippy Betts, an eccentric accountant caught up in felonious dealings; Sean Astin (Stranger Things) as Cliff Cussik, Marvin's boss in the real estate world; and Drew Scott (one half of the Property Brothers) as Jeff Zaks, a rival real estate agent with mad karate skills.
How can you watch Love Hurts?
Love Hurts arrives exclusively in theaters on Friday, February 7, 2025.
