Amazon has picked up new action comedy Jolt, starring Kate Beckinsale.
Beckinsale plays Lindy, a bouncer with anger management issues that she controls with the help of an electrode-lined vest that gives her a shock back to reality every time she starts feeling murderous. When the man she's in love with is murdered, she sets out to find the killer and seek revenge – all while the police pursue her as the primary suspect.
Directed by Tanya Wexler and written by Scott Wascha, the movie also stars big names like Bobby Cannavale, Jai Courtney, Laverne Cox, Susan Sarandon, and Stanley Tucci. Filmmaker Wexler previously directed Hysteria, a period drama about the invention of the vibrator that starred Hugh Dancy and Maggie Gyllenhaal, so Jolt is a bit of a change of pace.
The movie has been reportedly described as a female-led version of Crank, the 2006 action movie in which Jason Statham plays a hitman who's poisoned and must keep his adrenaline flowing constantly in order to keep himself alive.
As for Beckinsale, she was last seen in the 2019 Amazon Prime series The Widow alongside Charles Dance and Alex Kingston. On the big screen, she's set to star in the upcoming comedy El Tonto, Charlie Day's directorial debut, alongside Day, Jason Sudeikis, and Edie Falco. The actor is no stranger to the action genre, either, having appeared in movies like the Hugh Jackman-led monster hunter flick Van Helsing and the sci-fi actioner Total Recall opposite Colin Farrell (although both these movies received, uh, mixed reviews).
The purchase of Jolt shows that Amazon Prime Video is continuing to snap up new Hollywood releases – earlier this year, the streamer reportedly spent a record $200 million on The Tomorrow War, a sci-fi action movie starring Chris Pratt, which is due to premier next month. Amazon has secured a number of other big titles over the past year, too, including 2020’s Borat 2 and the recent Eddie Murphy-led sequel Coming 2 America.
