We have our first Razzie contender for 2026. Yes, it’s time for — what seems to be an annual tradition — the latest mediocre Chris Pratt-starring movie, joining such esteemed duds as “The Tomorrow War,” and “The Electric State.”
Kazakh‑Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov — perpetrator of that “Ben‑Hur” remake — is back with “Mercy,” starring Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, and hitting theaters this Friday.
The AI crime actioner is unsurprisingly getting terrible reviews. The current tally is 39 on Metacritic and 22% on Rotten Tomatoes. Who thought it was a good idea to give Bekmambetov a $70M‑range budget to make this film? Apparently, Amazon/MGM, who seem to burn money on the fly.
No, really, why Bekmambetov? The man responsible for “Ben‑Hur,” “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” and “V2: Escape From Hell.” Oh, and he also produced that Ice Cube‑starring “War of the Worlds” remake. The end result should surprise absolutely no one: “Mercy” is getting trounced by critics.
Set in 2029, the film has Pratt as an LAPD cop who has 90 minutes to prove his innocence to Ferguson’s character, who plays an AI judge. The script was penned by Marco van Belle with a producing team that consists of Charles Roven, Robert Amidon, Bekmambetov, and Majd Nassif, alongside executive producers Mark Moran and Todd Williams.
“Mercy” is currently projected for a $10–$12M opening weekend — with reviews like these, I doubt it’ll hit double digits. Maybe “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will again top the box office for the sixth weekend in a row.
Don’t fret too hard for Pratt — he’s found his latest IP goldmine, voicing Mario in the ultra-popular “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which has its sequel coming out this April and will very likely hit the billion-dollar mark at the box office. There’s a reason Pratt still gets paid anywhere between $10–12 million per movie: he’s attached himself to enough valuable IP that a bomb like “Mercy” ends up being shrugged aside as a mere blip.