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How to Rob a Bank, the new action thriller from John Wick co-creator David Leitch, arrives in U.S. theaters on Friday, November 13, and the first reviews landed this week with a decidedly mixed verdict. Critics broadly agree that Nicholas Hoult is excellent as the masked leader of a social media-famous robbery crew, but many feel the Amazon MGM Studios release is louder than it is smart.
The film is one of three wide releases this Friday, going head-to-head with Paramount’s Ebenezer, starring Johnny Depp, just a week before The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping takes over cinemas.
What is How to Rob a Bank about?
Set in Pittsburgh, the movie follows Ryan (Hoult), the ringleader of a crew that hides behind wolf masks, robs banks with a “do no harm” code and streams its heists online to millions of followers. Their anti-bank, Robin Hood message turns them into folk heroes, but it also puts them on the radar of a veteran FBI agent (John C. Reilly), who recruits a hacker under house arrest (Zoë Kravitz) to bring them down before their biggest job.
Mark Bianculli wrote the script, with Brian Grazer and Leitch among the producers. The movie runs 122 minutes and is rated R.
How to Rob a Bank cast
- Nicholas Hoult as Ryan, the crew’s leader
- Zoë Kravitz as Reagan, the hacker helping the FBI
- John C. Reilly as FBI Agent West
- Pete Davidson as Vince, an army veteran in the crew
- Anna Sawai as the getaway driver
- Rhenzy Feliz as Hugo, the crew’s tech whiz
- Christian Slater as Walton, a bank manager
Hoult and Kravitz previously shared the screen in Mad Max: Fury Road.
Watch the official trailer
How to Rob a Bank reviews: what critics are saying
The review embargo lifted on November 10, and opinions are all over the map. Time Out gave it three stars, calling it a “superior action-thriller” with an unexpected political punch. Screen Daily described it as “fun, forgettable,” praising Hoult as a Gen Z Robin Hood while arguing the anti-capitalist message gets buried under bombastic action. Empire said the film “has a lot of flash but keeps fizzling out.”
Variety was the harshest major voice, labeling it an “influencer-age heist movie” that tries too hard for cultural relevance. According to World of Reel, early aggregate scores sat around 50% on Rotten Tomatoes and 53 on Metacritic, which the site called the weakest reception of Leitch’s directing career. Those numbers can shift as more reviews arrive.
Box office expectations
World of Reel reports the film cost more than $80 million and was tracking toward an opening in the $9 million range. If that holds, Amazon MGM faces a tough weekend, especially with Ebenezer drawing holiday crowds and Godzilla Minus Zero still in the mix. The film was originally dated for Labor Day weekend before moving to November.
The James Bond chatter around Nicholas Hoult
The movie’s press tour has been dominated by 007 talk. At the New York premiere, Pete Davidson jokingly called himself “the first American James Bond” before backing his co-star Hoult for the role. Deadline, Variety and CNN have all reported that Hoult screen-tested for Amazon MGM’s Bond 26, alongside other names such as Robert Pattinson, Callum Turner, Jack Lowden and Josh O’Connor. Amazon MGM has not announced any casting, so treat every Bond name as speculation until the studio confirms it.
Should you see it?
If you enjoy Leitch’s stunt-driven style from Bullet Train and The Fall Guy, the car chases and fight scenes are reportedly the highlight. If you want a sharp satire of money and social media, critics suggest tempering expectations. Either way, Hoult’s performance is the one thing nearly every review agrees on.
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Sources: Time Out, Variety, Screen Daily, Empire, World of Reel, Amazon MGM Studios