You’d be forgiven for having counted Sylvester Stallone out of the superhero game early on, as his entry into the world of capes and tights spent years in the can with nobody seeing it.
Samaritan was announced way back in February 2019 as a theatrical release and filming commenced in February 2020. This was probably the worst possible month in a century to begin production on a movie, as the COVID-19 pandemic promptly slammed the brakes on the entire industry soon afterwards.
But director Julius Avery persevered and Samaritan was eventually completed once lockdown restrictions had lifted. Then it waited in the can, missing theatrical release dates in Nov. and Dec. 2020 and then June 2021.
It wasn’t until Aug. 2022 that Samaritan finally landed, ending up as an Amazon Prime Exclusive. Critics were scathing, dubbing it “lumbering”, “boring”, “lackluster”, and “a colossal waste of Sylvester Stallone’s skill, and your time”. Ouch.
Fortunately for Stallone and Avery, audiences didn’t agree. Samaritan was an immediate hit on Amazon Prime Video and just weeks ago a sequel was confirmed. This may be why Samaritan is once again climbing the streaming charts the world over, with the movie currently at no. 8 and rising on the Amazon Prime Video global charts.
Anyone who’s seen the movie will know that it ends with a surprising plot development that should make for a great continuation of the story. Even so, with Stallone now approaching his eighth decade, they’d better get Samaritan 2 before the cameras as soon as possible.
