John CenaandIdris Elbaare not the most likely pairing one would expect, but the two are in a movie together this year. The latter is a versatile actor whose work spans both award-nominated works and blockbuster titles.Elba has been nominated for seven Emmys, including for the seriesLuther,The Big C, andHijack.
On the film side of things, Elba is known for his stirring role inBeasts of No Nation. More recently, his roles have included voicing Knuckles in theKnucklesspinoff TV showas well as the mainlineSonic the Hedgehog 3movie.
Cena has also made his foray into voice acting, including voicing the titular character in the animated movieFerdinand.He and Elba also appeared together in James Gunn’s 2021 movieThe Suicide Squad. Now, Cena is preparing forPeacemakerseason 2, which comes out later this month.
While audiences wait for their next titles to release,another Elba and Cena collaboration is currently available on Prime Video.As per new data, the film is now trending on streaming.
Heads Of State Is Now A Streaming Hit
Heads of Stateis now doing well on streaming. The Prime Video original film is an action movie where Elba and Cena play the U.K. Prime Minister and the United States President, respectively, who become targets of a foreign adversary. They must rely on each other as protection from this global conspiracy.
In addition to Cena and Elba, the Ilya Naishuller-directed movie featuresPriyanka Chopra Jonas, Paddy Considine, Carla Gugino, Stephen Root, Jack Quaid, and Sarah Niles.The film was released on its streaming platform on July 2 and has gotten fairly positive reviews.
PerDeadline,Heads of Statehas become not only a huge summer hit but one of Prime Video’s best-performing films of all time. Themovie has now gotten over 75 million viewers since its launch early last month.This makes it the No. 4 most-watched Amazon MGM Studios movie of all time on the Amazon OTT service.
The most-watched Amazon MGM film remainsRed One. This is followed byThe Accountant 2andThe Tomorrow War.Heads of Statejoin the ranks on this elite list, coming in right behindThe Tomorrow War.
What This Means For Amazon MGM
This is a good sign for the future of Amazon MGM Studios.Heads of Stateis unique from bothRed OneandThe Accountant 2in thatit did not receive a wide theatrical release.As such, it shows that Prime Video films can also be huge drivers of success, even without the recognition boost from theatergoers.
Notably, these films are also all from the last five years, with two of them being movies released this year. This shows a strong upward growth trend for Amazon, as their newer movies, likeHeads of State, tend to do well in their viewership base.
