Last year it became known that Willis, one of Hollywood’s most famous action stars for three decades, would retire from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia, a language disorder that affects cognitive abilities and hinders essential communication skills such as speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Since then, Willis’ family has shared sporadic photos of him on social media, where he can be seen enjoying time with his five daughters, including several from this past holiday season with his ex-wife Demi Moore.
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As for Willis’ last couple of films, Assassin was covered in USA Today’s movie preview for 2023. The report included a picture of the actor wielding a gun in yet another classic action role of the kind he’s always been associated with. Like most of Willis’ recent movies, Assassin, distributed by Saban Films, will have a limited theatrical release in select locations and an accompanying video-on-demand release starting on March 31. Assassin was filmed in the summer of 2021.
Willis has another movie coming out in 2023, Lionsgate’s Detective Knight: Independence, the third installment for the franchise. Detective Knight: Independence premieres on January 20, 2023, under the same limited release scheme, the kind that dominated the tail end of the actor’s career. While a low-budget action thriller made by novice director Jesse Atlas would not usually command much attention, this one does have the appeal of being the actor’s last gig.
Willis’ final mainstream appearances in cinema were in 2019, starring in M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass and Motherless Brooklyn. He also has a cameo in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, although the prevalence of direct-to-video movies on his resume started in 2014. Despite the actor’s time away from the spotlight, that didn’t stop rumors of Willis’ selling his Deepfake likeness from making the rounds. However, the transaction was immediately denied by his representatives.
As always during the holidays, Willis’ name pops up when people have their usual debates about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie, with the actor’s Instagram jokingly posting his own denial recently. That said, if direct-to-video seems like an underwhelming sendoff for such a star, there are plenty of amazing movies in Willis’ filmography one can go see.
Assassin is scheduled to be released in select theaters on VOD on March 31, 2023.
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Source: USA Today
