MOVIE NEWS – Ryan Reynolds is back in action with an all-new original adventure that has already climbed to the number-one spot in the United States and become one of Apple TV’s biggest streaming movies worldwide after just a single day. Mayday blends a Cold War action-adventure inspired by the spirit of Top Gun with the banter and chaos of a classic buddy-cop movie.

Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds has returned to action in an entirely original throwback adventure that needed only one day to make a major impact on streaming. Mayday not only shot to the top of Apple TV’s movie ranking in the United States but also quickly became one of the service’s most popular films around the world. Reynolds’ latest cinematic project outside the Marvel universe puts its own spin on the familiar Top Gun formula while combining action, adventure and the argumentative chemistry of old-school buddy-cop movies.

Ryan Reynolds Leads a Crowd-Pleasing ’80s Throwback Action-Adventure

Ryan Reynolds stars opposite Academy Award winner Kenneth Branagh in Mayday, a genre-blending action comedy that plays with many of the conventions of the traditional spy thriller. The story follows Lieutenant Troy “Assassin” Kelly, a hotshot U.S. Navy pilot who becomes stranded in Soviet territory at the height of the Cold War after a top-secret mission goes disastrously wrong. He is discovered by Nikolai Ustinov, Branagh’s gruff former KGB agent who happens to be fascinated by American culture, forcing the two very different men into an unlikely alliance if they hope to survive.

The movie was written, directed and produced by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the filmmaking duo behind the unexpectedly successful comedy Game Night and the fantasy adaptation Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Alongside Reynolds and Branagh, the cast also includes Marcin Dorociński, Maria Bakalova and David Morse. The Cold War action comedy therefore surrounds its two headline stars with a group of experienced character actors.

Mayday debuted on Apple TV on September 4 and immediately found an audience. Viewers were evidently drawn to the idea of Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh trading jokes while dodging bullets in an action-adventure that enthusiastically embraces nostalgia for the 1980s. The movie claimed the number-one position on Apple TV’s U.S. movie chart on its first day and climbed as high as number six on the platform worldwide.

Apple TV TOP 10 Movies in the United States on September 4, 2026:

Mayday Has Emerged as One of the Year’s Best Action-Movie Surprises

Mayday has not only connected with audiences but also managed to pleasantly surprise critics, especially considering how easily it could initially have looked like yet another middling streaming action movie. The old-school action-adventure currently holds an 84% “Certified Fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviewers comparing it to buddy-cop classics such as 48 HRS. and Lethal Weapon, mixed with a touch of Tom Clancy. Some of the more enthusiastic reviews argue that the movie pulls off the difficult trick of working simultaneously as a laugh-out-loud comedy and a genuinely thrilling, death-defying adventure.

“There are people who feel blessed to have seen Halley’s Comet, and others who feel lucky to have watched the Chicago Cubs win the World Series. For anyone wondering whether Ryan Reynolds, master of relentless sarcasm, can stop being a smart-ass for even one moment, Mayday may be the answer: we have finally lived long enough to see Reynolds deliver a comedic performance that isn’t powered by stratospheric levels of snark.”

There is evidently still plenty of appetite for both Ryan Reynolds and nostalgic action movies that look back to the 1980s. With Mayday, Apple TV may have delivered one of the year’s best and most pleasantly surprising action releases, while its early streaming performance suggests audiences have been just as quick to embrace it.

Source: MovieWeb