Chicago writer behind 'The Marksman' starring Liam Neeson

CHICAGO (WLS) -- "The Marksman" is a high action thriller with a tender touch, starring Liam Neeson and written by Chicagoan Chris Charles.

It's now on demand and out on DVD following a hit theatrical opening, even during the pandemic.

In "The Marksman," Jim is a down on his luck rancher and former Marine in the southwest, who saves an orphaned boy from a drug cartel. Now the killers are after both of them.

Chris Charles was thrilled with the star power he got to tell the story.

"Meeting a guy like Liam, who you grew up watching in some of the most iconic films, it was definitely intimidating at first, but I'll tell you, he is just such a nice man, just a sincere hardworking guy," Charles said.

"It's really about two different human beings who have a lot more in common than they think," he said of his film. "They've both suffered great loss and they come together and they help each other and they heal."

Charles and his writing partner, Danny Kravitz met at Columbia College. Chris was the student; Kravitz, the professor.

Charles was born in Arlington Heights, and launched his career with movies like "Chicago Overcoat."

"I actually used to live in Pilsen and it was such a colorful, vibrant neighborhood, so many different cultures, we really liked the idea of Miguel ending up in a neighborhood like that, where he could look around and see people who looked like him, looked different than him, but really just see this amazing melting pot of different people," he said.

But one star of the movie stood out in particular.

"The dog, Jackson, was probably the most popular one on the set, whenever the dog was on set, everybody was happy," said Charles.

And how is he feeling about the success of "The Marksman"?

"It went on to become number one at the box office beating out 'Wonder Woman 1984' which was incredible, it went on to become one of the highest growing independent films of the year, and it just continues finding new audiences, now that it's available on demand, BlueRay and DVD," Charles said.