The Beast is the name given to the heavily armored state car used by the President of the United States to get from place to place. The Beast has 8-inch-thick, military-grade armor plating, multi-layered bulletproof windows, and an independent oxygen supply to protect against chemical attacks.
The Beast does not, so far as we know, have a pair of miniguns that pop out of the back and mow down enemies of the state at the president’s command. But don’t say that to director Renny Harlin, because that’s exactly what happens in his new movie The Beast, which stars Samuel L. Jackson as the President of the United States. We do not know his civilian name, nor do we need to.
In The Beast, a militia of unidentified hostiles mounts a coup against the United States. With Secret Service Agent Taft (Joel Kinnaman) injured, the President must drive the Beast, unlock its highly classified offensive capabilities, save Taft, reunite with the First Lady, and save the world. As the action classic Die Hard (1988) is set almost entirely in an office building, The Beast is set almost entirely in the presidential limo. Watch the new trailer below:
The Beast seems like a movie perfectly designed to make maximal use of Jackson’s fiery, profane screen persona. Watching him destroy a group of insurgents with some kind of pulse weapon only to respond with a laconic “whoa” lets you know exactly what kind of movie you’re in for: tongue-in-cheek, action-packed, and cheerfully devoid of any tethering to the real world. In the first teaser trailer, there’s a bit where the President gives Agent Taft a lesson in effectively using profanity, so there will be laughs in between all the shootouts and Batmobile-esque antics with the Beast.
Renny Harlin has worked with Samuel L. Jackson before, directing him in The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), Deep Blue Sea (1999), and Cleaner (2007). Deep Blue Sea contains a scene where Jackson’s character is killed by super-intelligent sharks in the middle of giving an inspirational speech, which feels like it has roughly the same mix of absurdity and excitement that The Beast does.
As the trailer proudly tells us, Harlin also directed Cliffhanger (1993) and Die Hard 2 (1990), over-the-top ’90s action flicks that are remembered fondly today. We’ll see if The Beast can bring that era of action movies back when it opens in theaters on October 9.
The Beast also stars Guy Burnet (Landman). If you want something to watch while you wait, you could check out the movie Big Game; Samuel L. Jackson plays President William Alan Moore, who must survive in the wilderness when Air Force One is shot down over Finland. That movie didn’t make much of a splash when it opened in 2015, but The Beast is almost here to correct that oversight.
- Release Date
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October 9, 2026
- Director
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Renny Harlin
- Writers
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Umair Aleem
- Producers
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Keith Kjarval, John Logan Pierson
