‘Nobody 2's' Inside Man: Why Indonesian Action Auteur Timo Tjahjanto Made the Leap to Hollywood

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The director also shares his thoughts on a "Beekeeper" sequel and what franchise would make him stay in the U.S.
Like the main character of 'Nobody 2,' a nebbish guy named Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) who has a secret identity as a nearly unstoppable killer, its director Timo Tjahjanto has a history. But instead of countless dead goons, Tjahjanto's past involves directing, in Indonesia, some of the most awesomely bone-crunching, blood-splattered action movies ever. And now, with 'Nobody 2,' he's finally come to Hollywood.
In Indonesia, Tjahjanto started off by working with Kimo Stamboel as a filmmaking duo (they called themselves the Mo Brothers), on movies like 'Macabre' and 'Headshot' – films that gleefully combined elements of horror, film noir and action. His first film as a solo filmmaker, 2018's 'May the Devil Take You,' was a straight-up horror movie, while 'The Night Comes for Us,' also released in 2018, is a truly insane action movie that reunited two of the stars of 'The Raid' (Iko Uwais and Joe Taslim) and put them through the ringer. Tjahjanto also worked with 'The Raid' director Gareth Evans on a standout segment for horror anthology 'V/H/S 2.'
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He subsequently released films in 2020 ('May the Devil Take You Too'), 2022 ('The Big 4') and 2024 ('The Shadow Strays'), which had its world premiere at last year's Toronto International Film Festival. These films further cemented him as one of the most exciting filmmakers working today and, thanks to his distribution agreement with Netflix, Tjahjanto's unique sensibilities gained purchase with a decidedly global audience.
But 'Nobody 2' marks a test of whether his homegrown style translates to a theatrical mainstream Hollywood blockbuster distributed by a legacy studio in Universal and stocked with established A-list talent. Tjahjanto talked to TheWrap about what drew him to the project, cultural differences in filmmaking and what he has coming next.
Getting 'Nobody 2'
When Tjahjanto's agent sent him the screenplay for 'Nobody 2,' which follows the events of 2021's sleeper hit, which grossed more than $57 million on a $10 million budget, the filmmaker was intrigued. In the sequel, Hutch and his family, attempting to enjoy a vacation, are drawn into a small town's connections to a ruthless gangster (played, with aplomb, by Sharon Stone).
Tjahjanto was struck by the tone, noticeably brighter than the films he's made in Indonesia. 'There's a family-friendliness to it,' he said. 'And that's not a bad thing, because the film is about a man discovering that he's not a lone wolf. That he also needs his family to exist, to be a whole person.'
The theme of a family was one that he was particularly drawn to, especially since he to leave his own family to make the movie.
'I went to shoot 'Nobody' and by the time I went back to Jakarta, my eight-year-old is suddenly nine-years-old, and she's a different person,' Tjahjanto said.
He discussed this constantly with Odenkirk, who is also a producer on the film and whose childhood trips to a Wisconsin water park as a kid inspired the story for 'Nobody 2.' 'I felt like I could make a dark, violent film or I could make this film that is somehow warm,' Tjahjanto said. 'I want to make something where people come out and are feeling good about it.'
To Tjahjanto, 'Nobody 2' felt like challenge. 'Making this, which is out of my comfort zone, is actually a good starting point,' he said about his initial foray into Hollywood. He's already got his next project lined up – a sequel to the Jason Statham action movie 'The Beekeeper,' for Amazon MGM Studios. Tjahjanto admits that 'Beekeeper 2' will be a 'darker' film but one that he probably wouldn't have been able to tackle without his experience on 'Nobody 2.'
One of the ways that 'Nobody 2' will prepare Tjahjanto for his next job is the experience gained by working with a bona-fide movie star. In the case of 'Nobody 2,' that's Stone.
Tjahjanto was a huge fan of Stone's western 'The Quick and the Dead,' which she made with Sam Raimi. 'Just to hear that Sharon Stone is willing to do this role and tapping back into what makes her a great genre queen, that was a great experience,' Tjahjanto said. 'Sharon is a very smart woman. She always knows a lot about what makes a character great. She always said, 'Hey, Timo, like, if I do this thing with this knife, then it'll feel much more dangerous.' And she's right. Her instinct is always, usually right. I'm getting the fast lessons from her.' He'll take those lessons onto 'Beekeeper 2,' undoubtedly, and beyond.
Action Adjustment
Partnering with Tjahjanto on 'Nobody 2' was another action movie heavyweight – David Leitch.
Leitch started in stunt work before transitioning to second unit photography and finally feature filmmaking. He co-directed the first 'John Wick' with his longtime partner Chad Stahelski before helming projects like 'Atomic Blonde,' 'Bullet Train' and 'The Fall Guy.' Leitch and his production company 87North produced both 'Nobody' films and have their own unique take on action filmmaking, favoring clear geography, defined spatial relationships and smoother camerawork.
Tjahjanto described Leitch as 'one of the greatest action directors,' and said that their own takes on action filmmaking meshed well. 'He's strangely very generous when it comes to knowing what I am comfortable with, in terms of how I want to show my action,' Tjahjanto said. 'And he's usually acting more as a guiding voice if I'm stuck, rather than telling me what to do.'
The filmmaker described Leitch, who produced the film with his wife and business partner Kelly McCormick, as always there and always watching – taking everything in and watching how Tjahjanto is progressing with things. 'He's always a giving producer,' Tjahjanto said. When he found himself saying, 'I guess I'm happy with this,' it was Leitch who would say, 'Why don't we push it a bit more?'
There's a moment in the movie where bad guys swarm the waterpark where Hutch is hiding out. It was Leitch who suggested a moment where Hutch sets up spikes in a water slide in order to off some baddies. Tjahjanto remembers Leitch saying, 'We already have a water slide here. Why not make a meal out of it?' 'All we need is a bunch of spikes and we can relive, like, people's most, the biggest fear, which is, like, getting a freaking nail stuck in your leg as you are sliding down the water. But this is the extreme version of it,' Tjahjanto said.
Leitch, Tjahjanto said, is 'the kind of person who get excited when you do the explosion and then you see him like a kid, he's so excited for it. I love that in him.'
Learning Curves
The transition from the way that Tjahjanto was used to making movies in Indonesia to how things are done with a western production, wasn't totally frictionless. He said that 'Nobody 2' was a movie where he learned a lot – chiefly 'the difference between how we run things over in Asia and how Hollywood do things.' Tjahjanto added, 'I think the fine line is always to be able to marry what's the best from the two.'
While he appreciates the discipline of Hollywood, he prefers the cohesive mindset of Indonesia. 'Okay, once we are settled with this idea, let's all move together,' he said.
According to Tjahjanto, Hollywood is more splintered, sometimes literally, in its approach, as he found out with his second unit team. Instead of chaffing against it, he found the process of second unit — with a smaller film team shooting things like inserts or parts of whole action sequences – 'the most interesting thing.' 'I'll be shooting Bob Odenkirk doing the water slide, while our talented second unit guy will be shooting John Ortiz [as the owner of the water park who gets wrapped up in Stone's criminal empire] killing a bunch of guys in the ball pit,' Tjahjanto said.
In Indonesia, he'd shoot everything. Tjahjanto joked that he would shoot a tire rolling down asphalt, so he would ask the second unit team how they were accomplishing similar shots. 'I'd just do that myself. It's a totally different system here,' Tjahjanto said.
Sometimes it's good to have somebody else shoot the tire rolling down the street.
What's Next
Tjahjanto said that, since he is directing 'Beekeeper 2' next, he's worried about being known as 'the sequel guy.' But what really drew him to the project was Statham.
'This one stems from me being a huge fan of the 'Crank' movies,' Tjahjanto said. 'Statham is one of those actors who are secretly underrated in a weird way, because he has so much presence with his physicality but he's also a very funny.'
Statham's character in the films, to Tjahjanto's reasoning, 'is a version of the Punisher,' the Marvel Studios character known for doling out violent justice (In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he's played by Jon Berenthal).
'What draws me with this one is, especially, is you're going to see some really cool villains this time around. I'm trying to kind of push the boundaries a bit more where the villains can feel manga-inspired in certain points. And some of the choreography that we have in mind is going to be very, very cool,' Tjahjanto explained. When we joked that Statham killed 80 people in the first 'Beekeeper,' Tjahjanto, without missing a beat, said, 'This time he's going to kill 82 people.'
Tjahjanto is adamant that he won't be sticking around Hollywood, making sequels to popular western movies forever. Recently on social media, he stated his desire to return to Indonesia and focus on original movies that he developed from the ground up, including making some more horror movies.
'I'm trying to balance things out, just because I do miss shooting in with my friends over there in Indonesia,' Tjahjanto said. 'Plus I could use some time to be around my kids. That'll help.'
But there is one franchise that could get Tjahjanto to stay put.
'If suddenly somebody says to me, 'Timo, they're offering you to make a 'Terminator' movie, then I'll say goodbye, Indonesia,' Tjahjanto said. 'I'll do 'Terminator' any day, any second.'
One of the reasons that he wanted to be in the film business was because he grew up watching Arnold Schwarzenegger films (He dropped a reference to Schwarzenegger's Mars-set 'Total Recall' earlier in the conversation.). Tjahjanto will even defend more controversial entries in the franchise, like 'Terminator: Dark Fate' and 'Terminator: Genisys.' 'With 'Dark Fate,' I think it's a great film. I love them and I do think in some way or another, Arnold could still have a part in 'The Terminator' universe,' Tjahjanto said. 'Fingers crossed.'
In other words: he'll be back.
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