When will Chris Pratt's 'Mercy' be available on streaming? Everything we know so far after January release
Before the NFL's biggest night, Chris Pratt had one of the most memorable roles, introducing the eventual champions Seattle Seahawks. However, that was just an opening act, before he returned to the futuristic AI courtroom in his latest release, 'Mercy', directed by Kazakh-Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov. Unfortunately for Pratt, the film continued its torrid box office run, raking in the brickbats.
His latest sci-fi flick, starring Rebecca Ferguson, has received negative reviews, with critics panning the plot. The film, whose screenplay was written by Marco van Belle, follows a detective, Christopher 'Chris' Raven, accused of murdering his wife. He must now prove his innocence to an AI judge (Ferguson). The thriller also stars Kali Reis, Annabelle Wallis, Chris Sullivan, and Kylie Rogers in key roles.
With the film releasing late January and still running in cinemas, all eyes are on the streaming release date. At the time of writing, the film is expected to be released on Amazon Prime Video, as it was produced and distributed by Amazon MGM Studios in the United States and Canada. There is no official release date for when it will hit the streamers, but with major releases typically taking the 45-day window, 'Mercy' is likely to hit the streamer sometime early March this year.
The film's critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads, "Constricting its two stars inside an airless presentation of a clunky techno-thriller premise, Mercy is tedious enough to make you cry uncle." It earned a 24% critics rating on the aggregator site, though audiences gave it a healthy 82%.
The official logline of the film reads, "Detective Raven, the architect of a system whereby accused felons have 90 minutes to prove their innocence, is now convicted. He’s up against an AI judge (Ferguson), and he doesn’t know how this occurred. Pratt’s Raven gets help from his partner (Kali Reis), who helps him retraces his steps." The film also involves Charles Roven, Robert Amidon, and Majd Nassif serving as producers alongside Bekmambetov.
Ahead of the film's release, Pratt spoke about embracing the challenges while working on it. With the trailer showing him seated on an electric chair, the 'Terminal List' star shed light on the experience. "It may as well be a coffin: It has me constrained, I'm claustrophobic, I'm fearful, and I'm going through this very dark and serious emotional journey. So emotionally, it takes its own toll," the 46-year-old told USA Today. "It's not me running from dinosaurs, but it's me running from imminent death, in a way, from a chair."
"At one point, my hands popped out of the shackles," he added. "I said, ‘You’ve got to actually strap me in.’ It’s not a real chair, it's a prop, so you could break it if you wanted to. So I made sure that they made it strong so I could try to fight against it." Despite his intense prep, the movie has so far been a damp squib, making just $49.5 million worldwide on its $60 million budget. It remains to be seen if 'Mercy' finds more eyeballs and a better response when it does hit the streamer.
