One of the big movies we’re guaranteed to see this year, because it’s coming to Netflix which doesn’t care about theaters, is Red Notice starring Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, and Dwayne Johnson. This morning, site manager Emily emailed me a trailer for a movie called “Red Notice” and ten seconds in, I was like, Why does this look so cheap and where is everybody? And then I realized I was watching a trailer for SAS: Red Notice, aka The OTHER Red Notice, a completely different movie starring a totally different list of people, such as: Andy Serkis, Ruby Rose, Sam Heughan, and Hannah John-Kamen. It’s about mercenaries hijacking a train and somehow ISN’T a movie starring Gerard Butler. That’s incredible. Gerard Butler should totally be starring in this movie. Is Sam Heughan the next Gerard Butler?
Speaking of Sam Heughan, I am a little surprised he’s not bagging higher profile movies in between Outlander seasons. Outlander is a popular show, he’s the hot dude on that popular show, and yet, the last movie I saw him in was Bloodshot, and the next movie I’ll see him in The OTHER Red Notice. He is on a TV series right now with his Outlander co-star Graham McTavish, in which they drive around Scotland and show it off as an extended travelogue, but this is sort of like The Wine Show with Matthew Rhys and Matthew Goode. That was a tremendously fun program and a good look for both Matthews, but not exactly a career boost, you know? I’m just saying, Regé-Jean Page is over here crushing it on SNL and booking major movie roles after one season of Bridgerton. Outlander has been running for like seven years at this point and Sam Heughan is doing “budget Gerard Butler” level of well. And I am honestly a little baffled because he’s not a bad actor and he has a hit TV show on his CV, I would expect more from him by now. Maybe To Olivia, in which he plays Paul Newman, will be the breakout movie moment for Sam Heughan, though he is not the star of that film (Hugh Bonneville is, starring as Roald Dahl). I’m just saying, Sam Heughan keeps making action movies like he wants to be James Bond, but the momentum is just not there.
Watch the exclusive trailer on EW here.