Die Hard Meets Air Force One in Samuel L Jackson's Unofficial Action Trilogy Ender Coming Next Month

Published Sep 17, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT

Simon Gallagher has worked in movie and TV journalism for more than 17 years. He has written more than 6000 articles and reviews, and edited thousands more. He is an expert in the entertainment industry, particularly in the golden age of screen superheroes. Simon is also a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic.
 

Considering he’s the fifth-highest-grossing actor of all time, with almost $15 billion to his name, Samuel L. Jackson has been comparatively quiet for the past few years. Since both The Marvels and Secret Invasion were released in 2023, his highest profile movies have been the widely criticized Argylle and a voice role in The Garfield Movie. That’s not what you’d expect when looking at a list of Samuel L Jackson movies.

Beyond the big screen, he also appeared in Tulsa King opposite Sylvester Stallone, setting up his own upcoming spinoff, Frisco King, which should underline how great he remains, but it’s been a strange period. Jackson’s projects have been largely forgettable movies like Just Play Dead and Afterburn, and there’s more of the same to come. And among his eight confirmed upcoming releases, there’s one in particular that should stand out for action fans.

Obviously, major vehicles like The Incredibles 3 and JJ Abrams’ sci-fi fantasy, Ghostwriter, but his reunion with action director Renny Harlin is quietly a bigger deal than its muted marketing campaign would suggest. Old school actioner, The Beast, is his next movie release, and combines the core hooks of two of the greatest action movies of all time, as well as forming the final chapter in an unofficial action trilogy that started 30 years ago.

The Beast's Mix Of Die Hard & Air Force One is Ideal for Action Movie Fans

The Beast feels like it belongs in a different decade entirely, not least because Jackson plays a very active action role, but also because of Harlin’s patented brand of violence and comedic moments. Like Harrison Ford’s Air Force One, Jackson plays the President of the United States, under attack from nefarious forces, with the famous plane this time swapped for the custom-built presidential state car, nicknamed The Beast. It’s basically Air Force One on a smaller, more intense scale, with the threat coming from outside the car.

The shift from a sweeping environment to a single, very enclosed space with what amounts to a one-man army setup (though Joel Kinnaman plays the wounded driver who he takes over duties from) also recalls Die Hard. An isolated lead, found of dropping m-f bombs fighting off a militia with an arsenal and inventiveness? It couldn’t be much more Die Hard, honestly.

It’s a simple premise that feels like a 1990s actioner, with Jackson playing an unconventional President trapped against increasingly tense odds, and it’s exactly the kind of gem that will inevitably find an audience on streaming. But before then, it heads into theaters in the US on October 9.

The Beast Can Complete Samuel L Jackson's Unofficial 30 Year Trilogy

Beyond the selling points of Jackson and the delightful-sounding story, The Beast is also something of a fascinating career milestone. It effectively completes an unofficial 30-year action trilogy between Samuel L. Jackson and Renny Harlin, which began with the exceptional The Long Kiss Goodnight in 1996.

While the pair also collaborated on 2007’s Cleaner, that was a grounded procedural thriller. Their true action legacy belongs to a specific brand of loud, wildly entertaining action movies that began when Jackson teamed up as private investigator Mitch Henessey with Geena Davis. As expected of a Harlin joint, it leaned heavily on witty banter and lots of explosions, and a charming blend of the absurd and realistic, just as Die Hard 2 had. 3 years later, the pair re-teamed for 1999’s Deep Blue Sea - still one of the best and most fun Jaws clones ever made, for which Harlin pulled a delicious casting stunt by killing off his star man hilariously abruptly.

This time out, The Beast will restore Jackson to leading man, of course, but it already looks like it will deliver the same distinct action DNA: big set-pieces, violence, and a thoroughly timeless refusal to take anything too seriously that has vanished from way too much of the action landscape. If this is the end of the Jackson/Harlin connection, it should be enjoyed with relish, and while The Beast might not be talked about as much as some of October’s bigger, more expensive releases, it might be one of the month’s most fun offerings.

The Beast is in theaters on October 9.

The Beast