Pierce Brosnan’s Underrated Adaptation Of 13-Novel CIA Franchise Finds New Life On Streaming

Published Sep 21, 2026, 9:43 AM EDT

Nick Bythrow is a Lead Writer for ScreenRant. He has been writing for the site since September 2022. He graduated from Hampshire College in 2022, where he triple majored in Journalism, Communications, and Media Studies. When he's not writing about TV and movies for ScreenRant and his blog, Frayed Branches, Nick is penning speculative fiction and poetry on Amazon. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts.

Pierce Brosnan's underrated adaptation of a 13-novel franchise focusing on the CIA has found new life on streaming over a decade later. Brosnan's movies include a number of action-packed spy thrillers, the actor's most iconic role being James Bond in four movies between 1995 and 2002. He's appeared in a multitude of other crime thriller projects, such as The Thomas Crown Affair, The Matador, and Black Bag. One of his most recent projects is MobLand, a crime TV show produced by Guy Ritchie for Paramount+.

However, even some of Brosnan's less well-known works have maintained a place in the public spotlight years after getting released. One of these films is The November Man, a 2014 crime thriller based on the novel series of the same name by Bill Granger. Pulled from the pages of the seventh book, There Are No Spies, the movie follows Brosnan as Peter Devereaux, a retired CIA agent forced to rescue a Russian agent and his former lover. However, when another CIA task force arrives and kills her, he's forced on the run as he uncovers the truth.

Brosnan's The November Man Has Roared Back To Life On Paramount+

Now, 12 years after its initial release in theaters, The November Man has found new life on streaming. According to data from September 21, 2026, the thriller is now the Number 9 movie in the United States on Paramount+. It comes ahead of the streaming service's ever-present success in Top Gun: Maverick, while falling short of newer movies like 2026's Scary Movie. The leap in the streaming charts also coincides with the return of Brosnan as Conrad Harrigan in MobLand season 2, which has always been a Paramount+ success.

Although it's not one of Brosnan's most well-remembered spy thrillers, The November Man showcases his talent in portraying a retired spy thrust into the spotlight once again. Of course, he's both trying to preserve his own life while discovering the reason for the other team's arrival, sending him on an adventure as he attempts to uncover the truth. While the movie didn't make as big a splash as some of his other work, it's still a harrowing addition to his film lineup, that was almost something much more.

The Film Nearly Spawned An Action-Packed Franchise

The CIA-focused movie was almost a new franchise for Brosnan, with reports of a sequel dating back to summer 2014. However, the movie failed to get these plans off the ground, mostly due to its performance at the time. The November Man reviews weren't too kind to the movie, which currently holds a 36% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 125 reviews. The movie was only a relative success at the box office, too, earning $34.8 million against a $15 million budget.

However, the movie's streaming success emphasizes a major interest in Brosnan's work, even if it's a movie that was initially panned by many. Perhaps The November Man's arrival on Paramount+'s Top 10 could help it gain more recognition, perhaps getting reevaluated in the modern era in the process.

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  Pierce Brosnan

  Peter H. Devereaux

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  Luke Bracey

  David Mason

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  Olga Kurylenko

  Alice Fournier