“Hit Man” is the kind of movie that 25 years ago could have made $200 million at the box office on a budget of two percent of that. Now, Richard Linklater and Glen Powell’s romantic thriller-comedy is going straight to Netflix after traditional studios balked at giving it a theatrical release.

In an interview with the BBC, Linklater attributes that change to studios being afraid to take even small risks on adult-oriented dramas.

“You don’t get fired for doing a sequel or an origin story, something that already exists,” the Oscar-nominated “Boyhood” director said. “You don’t get in trouble for what’s obvious and commercial. What changed is that films got greenlit by the marketing department and then it’s become really safe choices.”

The film, which was written by Linklater and Powell and based on a Texas Monthly article, tells the story of a police consultant (Powell) who…