Amazon picks up new action movie starring Lovecraft Country's Jurnee Smollett

Jurnee Smollett in Lovecraft Country
(Image credit: HBO)

Amazon Studios is set to buy Fuel, an action-packed movie starring Jurnee Smollett, according to Deadline. Amazon is currently in negotiations for the pitch, so the movie hasn't been made yet,

Fuel will follow a getaway driver, to be played by Smollett, who is coerced into working for a criminal and breaking all the rules she set for herself. The movie, written by Kat Wood, will aim to subvert the stereotypical relationship between cars and masculinity.

Smollett will also produce, along with Misha Green. The duo have worked together several times before – Green is a showrunner and executive producer on HBO horror series Lovecraft Country, in which Smollett stars. Set in the '50s, the show follows Atticus, a young Black man, who travels across the segregated US in search of his missing father, battling both racism and things that go bump in the night on the way. Smollett plays Letitia, an old friend of Atticus', who joins him on his journey. She also had a lead role in Underground, the first scripted US TV show to focus on slavery and the Underground Railroad, which Green co-created, executive produced, and wrote.

Smollett's last big-screen role was in Birds of Prey. She played Dinah Lance (AKA Black Canary), who teams up with Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn to take on a Gotham City crime lord. Meanwhile, Green is set to make her directorial debut with a new installment of Tomb Raider starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft.

While we wait for Fuel to hit the streamer, check out our list of the best movies on Amazon Prime to watch right now.

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.