Dolph Lundgren was cast in the lead role of Jebediah Woodley ; he found out about the role " probably " 9 – 10 months before shooting began on the film . He rehearsed different pages of dialogue and monologues in a short space of time , but claims to have " had it all down " ; as production was postponed on two occasions , which caused the character to grow on him with time . On his character , Lundgren said : " Jebediah Woodley is one of those guys that when I 'm sitting in my rocking chair one day , thinking back , I 'll remember that guy . He was a fun guy to play . " Kristina Klebe portrays FBI Agent Evelyn Pierce . Just before Thanksgiving and " maybe a week or two " before shooting began , Mendez gave her a call and said he would send her the script . Despite working with Mendez on '' Tales of Halloween '' ( in 2015 ) and '' The Last Heist '' ( the following year ) , Klebe still had to " put herself on tape " because they were auditioning a few people . She did n't hear anything back until four days before filming ; at which point she was cast . This was due to all of the producers disagreeing on who they wanted to play the role . On Klebe 's performance , Lundgren said : she " plays her character pretty straight " , which worked " quite well " in retrospect due to Woodley 's " crazy and colorful " nature . He went on to say : " Kristina really loved the part , so she was very accommodating and willing to explore it and work hard . " Principal photography took 17 days in Canton , Mississippi , over the 2015 Christmas season . Although credits at end of movie day it was filmed in Lexington MS. Many shots do show the Holmes County courthouse located in a Lexington . Mendez said they had " 12 days to prep " beforehand , during which time he was " lucky " to get five or six hours sleep each night . The town initially sought for filming refused to grant permission , so the production crew had to move " 20 miles out " . Mendez claims the " town used for filming had never had a movie shot " there before , and went on to say : " it 's actually one of the poorest suburbs in America , to be honest " . Apparently , the city and public were very interested in the movie 's production and the presence of Dolph Lundgren within their community . Furthermore , the local authorities were helpful ; and provided the production crew with access to different locations ; including the local church , as well as " police cars to shut down streets for filming . " Archstone Distribution acquired the worldwide distribution rights on May 27 , 2015 , during which time it was announced they would " launch sales " at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival . '' Do n't Kill It '' received its worldwide premiere on August 27 , 2016 , at the Fantasy Filmfest in Hamburg , Germany . The North American premiere was on September 26 , 2016 , at the Fantastic Fest film festival in Austin , Texas . On March 3 , 2017 , the film was released in " select theaters " and made available through video on demand
2015 Cannes Film Festival
2015 Cannes Film Festival
Don't Kill It