In May 2018, it was reported that
Ken Sanzel would write and direct
Kill Chain, an action-thriller for
Millennium Films starring
Nicolas Cage. Sanzel said the impetus for
Kill Chain came about after finishing
Blunt Force Trauma in
Colombia, with Sanzel's producer Gary Preisler suggesting they return to work on another film within the country utilizing their knowledge acquired during the production of
Blunt Force Trauma. Sanzel was inspired by the
Raymond Chandler short story ''I'll Be Waiting'' with its
hotel setting and build-up to a violent structure informing which would have three intertwining stories centering on Cage's character Araña,
Enrico Colantoni's Sniper, and a third story which proved challenging for Sanzel in finding a direction he liked. Initially, the film was structured so that Cage's character would not appear until the back half of the film, but the producers were concerned about him not appearing at the beginning and the film was restructured for a
frame story in the beginning that would have an appearance of Cage in the opening. ==Reception==