The trailer has arrived for Guns Up, a gritty action-comedy that sees The King of Queens and Paul Blart star Kevin James take an unexpected detour into mob mayhem and machine-gun shootouts. The film, directed by Edward Drake (Cosmic Sin, Apex), also stars Christina Ricci, Luis Guzmán, Melissa Leo, and Francis Cronin.
James plays Ray Hayes, a former cop who turned to organised crime in a bid to provide a better life for his family. After years working as muscle for the mob, he’s ready to go clean and finally open the dream diner he and his wife Audrey (Ricci) have been saving for. But of course, things don’t go as planned. When a new crime boss takes over, Ray finds himself marked for death following a botched job. With just one night left, he must keep his kids in the dark, escape the city, and dodge an increasingly chaotic barrage of bullets, assassins, and secrets.
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It’s a classic one-last-job setup, though with Kevin James as a bulldog of a bruiser — reportedly drawing inspiration from French bulldogs failing to jump on a couch — there’s a clear comic angle at play. The trailer leans into a mix of hard-hitting action and fish-out-of-water humour, with Ray’s two kids wondering whether their bumbling dad might actually be some kind of John Wick.
Guns Up marks yet another collaboration between James and production company Vertical, following a string of VOD and limited theatrical titles. It’s also another genre entry from Drake, whose reputation has largely been shaped by a string of panned Bruce Willis-led thrillers. Whether Guns Up breaks that streak remains to be seen, but this marks James’ first major film appearance of 2025.
Guns Up opens in select U.S. cinemas and hits VOD on July 18. The film was released in Greece, Germany and Mexico earlier this year,
