Kerry Washington's Action Thriller Bomb Takes Down Jason Statham on Streaming

1 week ago 11

Kerry Washington holding her son, played by Jahleel Kamera, in Shadow Force

Published Feb 1, 2026, 6:00 PM EST

Ryan O'Rourke is a Senior News Writer at Collider with a specific interest in all things adult animation, video game adaptations, and the work of Mike Flanagan. He is also an experienced baseball writer with over six years of articles between multiple outlets, most notably FanSided's CubbiesCrib. Whether it's taking in a baseball game, a new season of Futurama or Castlevania: Nocturne, or playing the latest From Software title, he is always finding ways to show his fandom. When it comes to gaming and anything that takes inspiration from it, he is deeply opinionated on what's going on. Outside of entertainment, he's a graduate of Eureka College with a Bachelor's in Communication where he honed his craft as a writer. Between The IV Leader at Illinois Valley Community College and The Pegasus at Eureka, he spent the majority of his college career publishing articles on everything from politics to campus happenings and, of course, entertainment for the student body. Those principles he learned covering the 2020 election, Palestine, and so much more are brought here to Collider, where he has gleefully written on everything from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Nathan Lane baby-birding sewer boys.

Prime Video has built a reputation as one of the premier streaming services for watching the collective works of Jason Statham. The English action icon is all over the platform, from recent favorites like The Beekeeper to his shark blockbuster The Meg 2: The Trench, and his team-up with Jet Li, War. However, an unexpected challenger to his status as one of the platform's streaming chart darlings has emerged to surpass one of his most popular films. Despite bombing at the box office with only $5.3 million and earning an icy reception from critics, Kerry Washington's action thriller Shadow Force soared up to fourth place globally, beating out Statham's bone-crunching 2025 film A Working Man at fifth.

Currently, Shadow Force is only available through Prime Video's Starz add-on, but that hasn't kept it from dominating the charts over the past week. The only titles ahead of it are 2026's surprise World War II action hit, The Tank, the John Wick spin-off Ballerina, and the buzzy new Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista team-up, The Wrecking Crew. The newfound streaming success is another reflection of the sharp divide between critics and audiences who saw director Joe Carnahan's latest. While the film struggled to a 30% score on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, viewers powered it to a much more positive 84%, cementing Washington's action turn as an underrated gem.

Washington shares the screen with Lupin's Omar Sy in Shadow Force, playing one half of an estranged couple on the run with a bounty on their heads. Both were previously leaders of the titular multinational special forces group tasked with performing assassinations on behalf of the United States, but abruptly left and went underground after falling in love and having a child. With operatives from their former team now hot on their trail, they have to put their skills to use to protect their son. Avoiding Shadow Force is easier said than done, though, with every movement under surveillance and no one in their inner circle they can fully trust. Rounding out the cast are Mark Strong, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Method Man, Jahleel Kamara, Marvin Jones III, Natalia Reyes, Yoson An, and Ed Quinn.

'Shadow Force' Had a Long Road to the Big Screen

In addition to directing, Carnahan also co-wrote Shadow Force with Leon Chills, who was attached to the project over six years before release. Washington was among the producers acquiring Chills' original script in 2019 alongside Sterling K. Brown. The original plan was to have Brown star opposite the recent Wake Up Dead Man alum with The Old Guard 2 helmer Victoria Mahoney behind the camera, but the project instead underwent a major overhaul. Having played a big hand in rewriting Chills' screenplay, Carnahan would take the reins in 2022 and never look back, bringing his stylish action pedigree from films like Smokin' Aces and Cop Shop to the table. It didn't end up being the winner everyone hoped for, but there's at least some solace to take in its newfound streaming success. Carnahan would also bounce back nicely this year with the Ben Affleck and Matt Damon action crime thriller The Rip on Netflix.

Shadow Force is currently available on Prime Video through Starz. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the biggest streaming hits throughout the year.