This new Samuel L. Jackson movie is dominating streaming. The Nick Fury star is never far from our screens and this year he’s appeared in three movies in total – horror reboot Spiral: From the Book of Saw, action sequel The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard and, most recently, thriller The Protégé. This three-hander between Jackson, fellow MCU actor Michael Keaton and Maggie Q came out about a month ago on August 20th and it’s currently smashing it on Amazon.
According to Flix Patrol, The Protégé is the third most popular film on Amazon this weekend, as well as the second on iTunes. Like a lot of movies that are flying slightly under the radar these days, it didn’t make much of an impact at the box office, only earning $8.2 million, but it’s clearly faring much better when it comes to the digital market. While its talented cast might not have been enough to get folks to see it in theaters, they are enough of a hook to check it out from the comfort of their own homes.
From Casino Royale director Martin Campbell, The Protégé follows Keaton and Q as Rembrandt and Anna, two world premier assassins who share a mysterious past from Vietnam, traverse the globe competing for high-profile contracts. But when Anna’s mentor (Jackson) is murdered, she and Rembrandt must form an uneasy alliance and return to Vietnam to track down his killer. Terminator 2‘s Robert Patrick also features.
Not as good as his best efforts but not as bad as his worst (2011’s Green Lantern), Campbell’s film is sitting at a not-bad 60% on Rotten Tomatoes. As the critical consensus puts it, “Maggie Q’s still waiting for the action movie that really deserves her — but until then, The Protégé hits just hard enough to satisfy.”
Samuel L. Jackson has likewise been heard recently in several episodes of Marvel’s What If…? and will be back as Fury in live-action in 2022’s Secret Invasion TV series. The Protégé is available to buy and rent online now.