Overview
- The film, which streams Friday, Sept. 4, 2026 on Apple TV, has completed a pre-release push that included first-look clips, cast interviews and early reviews.
- Set in 1987, the story follows a U.S. pilot shot down behind Soviet lines who is rescued by a former KGB agent obsessed with American culture, and the pair try to reach the U.S. embassy in Moscow.
- Early critics praised the film’s fast pacing, set pieces and the on-screen chemistry between Reynolds and Branagh, with many reviewers singling out Branagh’s unexpected physicality in action scenes.
- Mayday was written and directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, produced by Apple Studios and Skydance, and stars Reynolds, Branagh, Marcin Dorociński, Maria Bakalova and David Morse; it is rated PG-13 and runs around 110–112 minutes.
- Reviewers noted the streaming-only release narrows the film’s box-office potential and flagged the awkward timing of a comedic Russia-set movie given current geopolitics, which could shape audience response and Apple’s distribution strategy.