The Amateur on Prime Video has found the kind of second life that makes theatrical scorecards look slightly less final. The spy thriller reached No. 2 on StreamScope’s US movie chart on August 9, 2026, and Tom’s Guide reported that it remained in the platform’s top 10 on August 24.
That is a healthy streaming comeback for a film that earned $40.8 million domestically and $96 million worldwide after opening in theaters on April 11, 2025. Still, Amazon has not published viewing totals, so labels such as “smash” come with an asterisk. The chart position is real. The size of the audience remains tucked inside Amazon’s vault.
FlixPatrol also lists the film as available through Amazon in the United States and numerous international markets. ScreenRant, meanwhile, reported on August 24 that the movie had reached a new Prime Video longevity milestone.
Is Jon Bernthal really the star of The Amateur?
Some streaming-era promotion has leaned on Jon Bernthal, inviting comparisons to hard-edged franchises such as John Wick and Jason Bourne. Bernthal certainly brings instant action credibility, but this is not his movie in the usual leading-man sense.
The Associated Press noted in its review that Bernthal, who plays CIA operative Jackson O’Brien, appears in essentially two scenes. His presence adds grit, but viewers arriving for a full-length Bernthal rampage may want to adjust their mission briefing.
The actual lead is Rami Malek, who plays Charlie Heller, a CIA cryptographer pushed into action after his wife is killed in a terrorist attack. Malek also served as a producer, making the film’s central concept clear: Charlie is dangerous because he can calculate, improvise and exploit systems, not because he suddenly transforms into an elite assassin.
That distinction gives the movie its real hook. Bernthal is the familiar action signal in the marketing, while Malek supplies the unusual engine under the hood.
Why Charlie Heller stays an amateur
Director James Hawes built the approximately 123-minute thriller around a hero whose brain remains his most effective weapon. Malek told Disney’s D23 that Charlie had to remain an amateur or the story would lose its “North Star.”
He also described the film as being less about revenge than “integrity and courage.” The action follows that idea, favoring calculation and mathematics over the standard routine of handing the protagonist a gun and watching him become conveniently unstoppable.
Charlie’s profession also lets the adaptation update its espionage machinery. Facial recognition, voice identification and digitally enabled surveillance replace much of the Cold War texture associated with Robert Littell’s 1981 novel. The book was previously adapted for film in 1981, making Hawes’ version both a remake and a technological renovation.
The result has a different flavor from the franchise comparisons attached to it. Charlie is no John Wick, and he does not possess Jason Bourne’s combat training. He is a desk-bound intelligence specialist attempting to turn information into leverage. That makes every success feel less polished and every mistake more plausible.
Critics and audiences split on the mission
The film’s streaming momentum arrives with a notable gap between professional reviews and audience enthusiasm. Rotten Tomatoes records a 61% critics score from 198 reviews, while its verified audience rating stands at 87%.
The Associated Press praised Malek as compelling but found the movie slow to begin and unable to maintain enough suspense across its runtime. That criticism helps explain the divided reception: viewers receptive to a methodical, tech-driven revenge story have embraced it more warmly than critics looking for tighter pacing and sustained tension.
Its $96 million worldwide theatrical total was respectable rather than explosive. Prime Video has now given the film another chance to reach viewers who skipped cinemas, and the chart run suggests plenty accepted the invitation.
Just keep the billing straight. The Amateur may feature Jon Bernthal and borrow some visual shorthand from tougher spy sagas, but its streaming success belongs chiefly to Rami Malek’s anxious, calculating cryptographer. The action star on the poster is useful. The amateur at the center is the reason the mission exists.
