John Cena Officially Gets Fast and Furious in Apple TV's 'Matchbox: The Movie' Sneak Peek [Exclusive]

1 week ago 14

Published Oct 1, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT

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You'd think a childhood reunion would maybe involve a couple of drinks, sharing some embarrassing stories, and probably discovering that the friend you had in high school has 8 kids and drives an RV now. What you wouldn't expect to find is John Cena dragging everyone into an international CIA operation to save the world, but Matchbox: The Movie isn't particularly interested in keeping things low-key.

Collider is delighted to present an exclusive sneak peek at Apple TV's upcoming action-adventure movie ahead of its global premiere on October 9. The nerve-shredding footage offers another look at the enormous action awaiting Cena and his deeply unprepared childhood friends when their reunion becomes considerably more dangerous than anyone expected. All we can say is we hope he's better at driving cars than flying planes as he prepares for a fake crash landing with his old pals.

Inspired by Mattel's iconic Matchbox toy cars, the 126-minute movie comes from Sam Hargrave, the stuntman-turned-filmmaker behind Netflix's Extraction and Extraction 2. The film is an action-packed, globetrotting adventure about a group of childhood friends who have their lives upended when undercover CIA agent Sean, their long-absent former leader, returns to their small town and unwittingly gets them embroiled in a frantic international pursuit to save the world.

Who Stars in 'Matchbox: The Movie'?

Cena (Peacemaker) is the star of the show here, but he's got some big fish alongside him in the shape of Jessica Biel (The Sinner), Arturo Castro (Broad City), Sam Richardson (Veep), and Teyonah Parris (WandaVision) as the group of longtime friends suddenly pulled into Sean's mission. The cast also includes Danai Gurira (The Walking Dead), Golshifteh Farahani (Extraction), Corey Stoll (Ant-Man), and Bill Camp (The Queen's Gambit). Hargrave directs from a screenplay by David Coggeshall (The Family Plan), with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Robbie Brenner, Ynon Kreiz, and Jules Daly producing. Hargrave also executive produces alongside Patrick Newall and Elizabeth Bassin.

The movie marks another major toy adaptation for Mattel following the enormous success of Barbie, although Matchbox is taking a considerably different route. Rather than attempting to explain the complicated inner life of a tiny die-cast car, Hargrave has used the imaginative play associated with the toys as the foundation for a globe-trotting action movie packed with cars, espionage and enormous set pieces. Plus, giving the guy responsible for Extraction 2's 21-minute continuous action sequence some Matchbox cars to go do something unhinged with them? We're all on board for that.

Matchbox The Movie premieres globally on Apple TV on October 9. Stay tuned at Collider for more.