''American Assassin'' is a 2017 American
action thriller
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include lif ...
film directed by
Michael Cuesta
Michael Cuesta (born July 8, 1963) is an American film and television director, best known for his independent films, specially for having co-written and directed the 2001 film, '' L.I.E.'' He has directed and produced television series including ...
and starring
Dylan O'Brien
Dylan Rhodes O'Brien (born August 26, 1991) is an American actor. His first major role was Stiles Stilinski on the MTV supernatural drama ''Teen Wolf'' (2011–2017), where he was a series regular during all six seasons. He achieved further p ...
,
Michael Keaton
Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in ''Beetlejuice'' ( ...
,
Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa McCoy Lathan (born September 19, 1971) is an American actress. She is the daughter of actress Eleanor McCoy and film director Stan Lathan. Her career began after she appeared in the shows In the House (TV series), ''In the House'', ''Famil ...
,
Shiva Negar
Shiva Negar (born May 29, 1983) is an Iranian-Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of ...
, and
Taylor Kitsch
Taylor Kitsch (born April 8, 1981) is a Canadian actor and model who has portrayed Tim Riggins in the NBC television series '' Friday Night Lights'' (2006–2011). He has also worked in films such as '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' (2009), ''Battle ...
. It was written by
Stephen Schiff
{{Infobox person
, name = Stephen Schiff
, image =
, image_size =
, alt =
, caption =
, birth_name =
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, ...
, Michael Finch,
Edward Zwick
Edward M. Zwick (born October 8, 1952) is an American filmmaker and producer of film and television. He has worked primarily in the comedy drama and historical drama, epic historical film genres, including ''About Last Night (1986 film), About L ...
, and
Marshall Herskovitz
Marshall Schreiber Herskovitz (born February 23, 1952) is an American film director, writer, and producer, and currently the President Emeritus of the Producers Guild of America. Among his productions are ''Traffic'', ''The Last Samurai'', ''Bl ...
. Nominally based on
Vince Flynn
Vincent Joseph Flynn (April 6, 1966 – June 19, 2013) was an American author of political thriller novels featuring the fictional assassin Mitch Rapp. He was a story consultant for the fifth season of the television series '' 24''. He died of pro ...
's 2010 novel of the same name, the story is centered on young
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
black ops
A black operation or black op is a covert or clandestine operation by a government agency, a military unit or a paramilitary organization; it can include activities by private companies or groups. Key features of a black operation are that it i ...
recruit
Mitch Rapp
Mitch Rapp is a fictional character in a series of novel by Vince Flynn and in the film adaptation of ''American Assassin''. Since Flynn's death in 2013, the series has been continued by Kyle Mills.
Character introduction
Rapp is a counter-terro ...
, who helps a
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
veteran try to stop the detonation of a rogue nuclear weapon.
The film was released in the United States on September 15, 2017, and grossed over $67 million worldwide. It received mixed reviews from critics, who described the plot as clichéd and lacking thrills.
Plot
Mitch Rapp
Mitch Rapp is a fictional character in a series of novel by Vince Flynn and in the film adaptation of ''American Assassin''. Since Flynn's death in 2013, the series has been continued by Kyle Mills.
Character introduction
Rapp is a counter-terro ...
and his girlfriend Katrina Harper are on vacation in
Ibiza
Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. Moments after Katrina accepts Mitch's proposal of marriage, a
jihadist
Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...
cell lands on the beach and begins to attack the civilians with rifles. Amid the carnage, Rapp frantically attempts to find Katrina, but his fiancée is killed by the terrorists.
Eighteen months later, Rapp, now consumed by his desire for vengeance, trains himself intensively in
martial arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
and
marksmanship
A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting using projectile weapons (in modern days most commonly an accurized scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle or a sniper rifle) to shoot at high-value targets at longer-than- ...
and frequents an internet message board where the terrorist responsible for his girlfriend's murder quizzes Rapp on aspects of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
and
jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...
. Having secured an invitation to meet him face to face in
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
, Rapp prepares to take his vengeance on the man responsible for his girlfriend's death, but before he can kill the terrorist, the cell is suddenly ambushed by
U.S. Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service Berets of the United States Army, headgear, are a special operations special operations force, force of the United States Ar ...
. Upset over the perception that he has been denied his vengeance, Rapp repeatedly stabs the terrorist he was after, who is already dead from the ambush, before being dragged out by the U.S. forces. In a
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
facility Rapp undergoes 30 days of debriefing before being offered a chance by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy to join a black operations unit code-named Orion. Its head, Stan Hurley, is a former
U.S. Navy SEAL
The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy, U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command, Naval Special Wa ...
and a
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
veteran who trains Rapp and the other potential recruits in
asymmetric warfare
Asymmetric warfare (or asymmetric engagement) is the term given to describe a type of war between belligerents whose relative military power, strategy or tactics differ significantly. This is typically a war between a standing, professional ar ...
.
Meanwhile, word comes down through intelligence channels that
weapons grade
Weapons-grade nuclear material is any fissionable nuclear material that is pure enough to make a nuclear weapon or has properties that make it particularly suitable for nuclear weapons use. Plutonium and uranium in grades normally used in nucle ...
nuclear material
Nuclear material refers to the metals uranium, plutonium, and thorium, in any form, according to the IAEA. This is differentiated further into "source material", consisting of natural and depleted uranium, and "special fissionable material", con ...
has disappeared from a decommissioned Russian
nuclear facility
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...
. The material in question appears to be heading to Iranian
hardliners, who are upset with the
Iranian government
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran ( fa, نظام جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Neẓām-e jomhūrī-e eslāmi-e Irān, known simply as ''Neẓām'' ( fa, نظام, lit=the system) among its supporters) is the ruling state a ...
's
nuclear deal with the U.S. While verifying the sale of the nuclear material in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
the
plutonium
Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...
is intercepted by a third party, who eliminates the sellers before vanishing into the crowd. In
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, Hurley sees news reports about the incident in Poland and tentatively identifies the perpetrator as a former Navy SEAL and Orion operative believed to have been killed in action and now going by the code-name "Ghost". Hurley's team is sent into
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
to intercept the buyer Ghost is working for.
In
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, Hurley's team is identified, and the attempted intercept of the trigger device fails. Rapp pursues the seller to his apartment, and after killing the man, retrieves his laptop. The information leads the team to Rome, where Orion operatives identify a
nuclear physicist
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
needed to craft the nuclear material into a functional nuclear weapon. While in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, Rapp uncovers a co-worker, Annika, as a foreign agent for Iran. She explains that she is working for the mainstream Iranian faction which is attempting to stop the hardliners from acquiring nuclear material. During a meeting between Hurley and an Iranian contact, Ghost ambushes them, kills the contact and captures Hurley.
At the CIA safe house in Rome, Annika is being moved under guard by two
Mossad
Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
agents when Rapp intercepts the car and frees her. Working together, they locate the subterranean headquarters Ghost is using to build the nuclear device. After infiltrating the tunnels, Rapp locates and frees a badly injured Hurley. Annika is captured by Ghost and used as a hostage, so she kills herself with Ghost's gun to give Rapp a chance to kill Ghost. However, Ghost escapes onto a boat with the nuke. Based on an earlier conversation, Hurley deduces that Ghost intends to make a
kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
attack against the
U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet. Rapp chases after Ghost's boat, while the Sixth Fleet, alerted to the impending nuclear attack through CIA channels, prepares for the attack.
Aboard Ghost's boat, Rapp kills Ghost and attempts to divert the boat away from the Sixth Fleet to shield the ships from the blast, before throwing the nuclear weapon into the sea and escaping aboard a Navy rescue helicopter sent by Irene to rescue Hurley. Seconds later the device detonates, creating a massive sink hole and subsequent
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...
that inundates the Sixth Fleet vessels, but the fleet survives the blast.
In the aftermath of the blast, Hurley is recovering from his injuries and notes that Rapp is on vacation in
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, while watching news reports indicating that the Iranian faction which tried to obtain the nuclear weapon will win the presidential election and is blaming the nuclear attack on the CIA. In Dubai, the faction candidate and his escorts enter an elevator in which Rapp is already present, smiling.
Cast
*
Dylan O'Brien
Dylan Rhodes O'Brien (born August 26, 1991) is an American actor. His first major role was Stiles Stilinski on the MTV supernatural drama ''Teen Wolf'' (2011–2017), where he was a series regular during all six seasons. He achieved further p ...
as CIA Agent Mitch Rapp
*
Michael Keaton
Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in ''Beetlejuice'' ( ...
as CIA Agent Stan Hurley
*
Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa McCoy Lathan (born September 19, 1971) is an American actress. She is the daughter of actress Eleanor McCoy and film director Stan Lathan. Her career began after she appeared in the shows In the House (TV series), ''In the House'', ''Famil ...
as CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy
*
Shiva Negar
Shiva Negar (born May 29, 1983) is an Iranian-Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of ...
as VAJA Agent Annika
*
Taylor Kitsch
Taylor Kitsch (born April 8, 1981) is a Canadian actor and model who has portrayed Tim Riggins in the NBC television series '' Friday Night Lights'' (2006–2011). He has also worked in films such as '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' (2009), ''Battle ...
as Ronnie "Ghost"
*
David Suchet
Sir David Courtney Suchet''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' ( ; born 2 May 1946) is an English actor known for his work on British stage and television. He portrayed Edward Teller in the television serial '' Oppenh ...
as CIA Director Stansfield
*
Navid Negahban
Navid Negahban ( fa, نوید نگهبان; born June 2, 1968) is an Iranian-American actor. He has appeared on '' 24'', ''Homeland'', ''Mistresses'' and as Amahl Farouk / Shadow King in the second and third seasons of FX's ''Legion''. He has als ...
as Minister Behruz
*
Scott Adkins
Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is a British actor, film producer, screenwriter, gymnast, and martial artist. He is best known for his role as the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the ''Undisputed franchise''. He has played Yuri Boy ...
as Victor
* Alaa Safi as Javeed
* Khalid Laith as Sharif
*
Mohammad Bakri
Mohammad Bakri (born 1953; ar, محمد بكري, he, מוחמד בכרי) is a Palestinian actor and film director.[Charlotte Vega
Charlotte Elizabeth Vega (born 10 February 1994 in Madrid) is a Spanish-British actress and model, known for her role in the 2014 Spanish film ''The Misfits Club'', the lead role in the 2017 Irish film '' The Lodgers'', and main roles in two te ...](_blank)
as Katrina Harper
Production
Pre-production
CBS Films
CBS Films Inc. was an American film production and distribution company founded in 2007 as a subsidiary of CBS Corporation and was considered a mini-major studio up until 2019.
CBS Films originally was planned to distribute, develop and prod ...
acquired the rights to Flynn's book series in 2008. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' bestseller ''Consent to Kill'' was intended to be the first film in a proposed series. ''Consent to Kill'' was scheduled to be produced by
Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Lorenzo di Bonaventura (; born January 13, 1957) is an American film producer and founder and owner of Di Bonaventura Pictures. He is best known for producing the G.I. Joe and ''Transformers'' film series. The films he produced have earned over ...
and
Nick Wechsler Nick Wechsler may also refer to:
* Nick Wechsler (actor) (born 1978), American actor
* Nick Wechsler (film producer) (born 1949), American film producer
{{Hndis, Wechsler, Nick ...
; the screenplay was written by
Jonathan Lemkin
Jonathan Lemkin is an American screenwriter. He has written for the television series '' 21 Jump Street'', ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', and ''Hill Street Blues''. He has also written the films ''Showdown in Little Tokyo'' (uncredited, production scri ...
. The studio's last few films had performed poorly, causing them to delay the film's production.
Antoine Fuqua
Antoine Fuqua (born May 30, 1965) is an American filmmaker, known for his work in the action and thriller genres. He was originally known as a director of music videos, and made his film debut in 1998 with ''The Replacement Killers''. His critica ...
was originally attached to direct, with names being rumored to play
Mitch Rapp
Mitch Rapp is a fictional character in a series of novel by Vince Flynn and in the film adaptation of ''American Assassin''. Since Flynn's death in 2013, the series has been continued by Kyle Mills.
Character introduction
Rapp is a counter-terro ...
including
Gerard Butler
Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as ''Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never Di ...
,
Colin Farrell
Colin James Farrell (; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A leading man in projects across various genres in both blockbuster and independent films since the 2000s, he has received numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award. ''The I ...
and
Matthew Fox
Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on ''Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned him ...
. However, being a prequel novel, ''American Assassin'' provided the opportunity to start at the very beginning of the character Rapp's career instead.
Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Jeffrey Nachmanoff (born March 9, 1967) is an American screenwriter and director. He wrote the screenplay for the 2004 blockbuster film ''The Day After Tomorrow''. He wrote and directed ''Traitor (film), Traitor'', which was released on August 27 ...
replaced
Ed Zwick
Edward M. Zwick (born October 8, 1952) is an American filmmaker and producer of film and television. He has worked primarily in the comedy drama and epic historical film genres, including '' About Last Night, Glory, Legends of the Fall,'' an ...
as director on February 12, 2012. At the time, Zwick was also writing the script with
Marshall Herskovitz
Marshall Schreiber Herskovitz (born February 23, 1952) is an American film director, writer, and producer, and currently the President Emeritus of the Producers Guild of America. Among his productions are ''Traffic'', ''The Last Samurai'', ''Bl ...
, but another draft was written by Mike Finch in October 2012.
[ A further director and screenwriter change took place with ]Michael Cuesta
Michael Cuesta (born July 8, 1963) is an American film and television director, best known for his independent films, specially for having co-written and directed the 2001 film, '' L.I.E.'' He has directed and produced television series including ...
and Stephen Schiff
{{Infobox person
, name = Stephen Schiff
, image =
, image_size =
, alt =
, caption =
, birth_name =
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, ...
, respectively, on board as of March 2016.[
Production needed to start by April 30, 2016, or the rights to the film would have reverted to the Vince Flynn Estate.
]
Casting
On October 10, 2012, Chris Hemsworth
Christopher Hemsworth (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian actor. He rose to prominence playing Kim Hyde in the Australian television series ''Home and Away'' (2004–2007) before beginning a film career in Hollywood. In the Marvel Cinemati ...
was believed to have been offered $10 million to play the lead, Mitch Rapp. However, a month later, it was revealed Hemsworth had turned down the role due to scheduling issues. On May 10, 2016, after being "courted for months", Dylan O'Brien
Dylan Rhodes O'Brien (born August 26, 1991) is an American actor. His first major role was Stiles Stilinski on the MTV supernatural drama ''Teen Wolf'' (2011–2017), where he was a series regular during all six seasons. He achieved further p ...
was cast in the lead role with the "idea that O'Brien's Mitch Rapp is college aged, and the hope is the actor grows as the series progresses."
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...
was in talks to star as Stan Hurley in September 2012, but Michael Keaton
Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in ''Beetlejuice'' ( ...
was cast as Rapp's mentor on March 9, 2016. Taylor Kitsch
Taylor Kitsch (born April 8, 1981) is a Canadian actor and model who has portrayed Tim Riggins in the NBC television series '' Friday Night Lights'' (2006–2011). He has also worked in films such as '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' (2009), ''Battle ...
joined the cast on August 18, 2016, as the "villainous operative."
On September 7, 2016, Shiva Negar and Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa McCoy Lathan (born September 19, 1971) is an American actress. She is the daughter of actress Eleanor McCoy and film director Stan Lathan. Her career began after she appeared in the shows In the House (TV series), ''In the House'', ''Famil ...
joined the cast, Negar in a key role as an agent who teams up with Rapp and Hurley, and Lathan as CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy, who is to the Flynn novels what M is to James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
. In the books, Kennedy is white, but "Lathan shone above a large number of actresses who tested for the job as an actress who could grow in the role as her character rises from running strike teams to the heights of power."
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
took place between September and December 2016 in London, Rome, and Phuket
Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...
, with additional filming in Valletta
Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...
Barry (Wales) and Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
.
Release
On March 20, 2017, the film was scheduled for a September 15, 2017 release date.
Marketing
A first picture of Dylan O'Brien as Mitch Rapp was released on September 12, 2016.[ On November 2, 2016, production stills of the cast were published.
A first trailer was shown to exhibitors at the Lionsgate panel in ]CinemaCon
The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) is an American trade organization whose members are the owners of movie theaters. Most of the worldwide List of movie theater chains, major theater chains' operators are members, as are hundreds ...
in March 2017. The first poster and teaser trailer were released online in April 2017. On June 20, the red band trailer
The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion picture ...
was released.
Reception
Box office
''American Assassin'' grossed $36.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $30.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $67.2 million, against a production budget of $33 million.[
In North America, the film was released alongside '']Mother!
''Mother!'' (stylized as ''mother!'') is a 2017 American psychological horror film written and directed by Darren Aronofsky, and starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, Brian Gleeson (actor), ...
'', and was projected to gross $12–14 million from 3,154 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $915,000 from Thursday night previews at 2,400 theaters and $5.8 million on its opening day. It went on to debut to $14.8 million, finishing second at the box office, behind holdover '' It''. In its second weekend, the film made $6.3 million, dropping to 4th.
Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
of . The site's critical consensus reads, "''American Assassin'' hits a few easy targets, but without enough style or wit to truly bring its characters to life—or stand out in a crowded field of more compelling spy thrillers." On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score 45 out of 100, based on reviews from 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while comScore reported filmgoers gave it a 67% overall positive and a 43% "definite recommend".
Matt Zoller Seitz
Matt Zoller Seitz (born December 26, 1968) is an American film and television critic, author and film-maker.
Career
Matt Zoller Seitz is editor-at-large at RogerEbert.com, and the television critic for '' New York'' magazine and Vulture.com, as ...
of RogerEbert.com
''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...
gave the film two-and-a-half out of four stars, mainly criticizing the film's confused disposition towards revenge: " 'American Assassin''keeps telling you that revenge poisons the soul and is generally a bad idea while serving up awesome scenes of Mitch and colleagues killing terrorists.... It doesn't take long to figure out where the film's heart lies, and it would've been more honest if it had embraced that impulse from the start."[ ] In addition, other negative reviews came from those such as Ed Potton of ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', who said "It's just about conceivable that somebody who has never seen a spy thriller might find some enjoyment in ''American Assassin''", and Soren Anderson of the ''Seattle Times
''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...
'', who wrote, "O'Brien is grimly focused as Rapp, but there isn't a lot of electricity in his performance. He gets the job done, but he's no Matt Damon or Daniel Craig. Their spy-guy shoes remain unfilled."
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...
of the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote "'American Assassin' is a serviceable, workman-like thriller that makes the familiar as involving as it's going to get. It demonstrates that even Jason Bourne
Jason Bourne () is the title character and the protagonist in a series of novels and subsequent film adaptations. The character was created by novelist Robert Ludlum. He first appeared in the novel '' The Bourne Identity'' (1980), which was a ...
lite is better than no Bourne at all, if you're in the mood." Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
of ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' commended the film, saying "Gorgeously shot by Enrique Chediak, American Assassin may be too slick for its own good, but O'Brien cuts deep enough to make you root for a Rapp franchise." Seitz especially praised Michael Keaton's performance as a Cold War veteran, stating that he was the only actor to have built "an emotionally cohesive, memorable character" despite "material that too often mistakes exposition for psychology." Jamie Righetti of Indiewire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
concluded that while the film presents a "predictable" script and the "bare minimum of fast action and ass-kicking mandated by tsformula," paired with "O'Brien's charm and an unquestionably tantalizing ending, it's possible that audiences haven't seen the last of Mitch Rapp."
Accolades
References
External links
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American Assassin
' at CBS Films
CBS Films Inc. was an American film production and distribution company founded in 2007 as a subsidiary of CBS Corporation and was considered a mini-major studio up until 2019.
CBS Films originally was planned to distribute, develop and prod ...
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{{Michael Cuesta
2017 action thriller films
2010s action thriller films
2010s American films
2010s English-language films
American action thriller films
American films about revenge
CBS Films films
Di Bonaventura Pictures films
Films about the Central Intelligence Agency
Films about nuclear war and weapons
Films about terrorism
Films based on American thriller novels
Films directed by Michael Cuesta
Films produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Films scored by Steven Price
Films set in Istanbul
Films set in Rome
Films set in Warsaw
Films shot in London
Films shot in Rome
Lionsgate films
Techno-thriller films