by Alex Billington
July 14, 2026
Source: YouTube
“Where’d you learn to fight like that?” “None of us escape what we are…” Apple TV unveiled their official trailer for a funny throwback-to-the-Cold-War buddy comedy movie called Mayday, ready for release on Apple TV streaming this September. It’s the next new comedy by the two filmmakers behind the acclaimed movies Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. This time they’re heading deep into Russia. Ryan Reynolds stars as pilot Lt. Troy “Assassin” Kelly, whose SR-71 Blackbird jet is shot down in Soviet territory. But before anything bad can happen, he’s rescued by the Russian ex-KGB Nikolai Ustinov, played by Kenneth Branagh, who actually likes America and takes him in. Next thing you know they end up friends, but they also end up on the run trying to get Troy back to safety, so the Americans can rescue him. It’s a nice Russian & American team-up get-into-tons-of-trouble comedy to enjoy right at the end of the summer. Along with Reynolds & Branagh, the cast also includes Marcin Doroncinski, Maria Bakalova, and David Morse. These directors always know how to come up with some truly fresh, wild and hilarious humor in ridiculous situations and this looks like serious fun. Should also play in theaters not just on Apple.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Daley & Goldstein’s comedy Mayday, from Apple TV’s YouTube:
“The buddy films of the 1980s were a bizarre and enticing blend of humor, danger and genuine heart. Mayday is our ode to this genre, with the unlikely pairing of Ryan Reynolds and Sir Kenneth Branagh in a Cold War adventure that explores what it means to be patriotic, but ultimately what it means to be human.” –Directors John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein
Ryan Reynolds & Kenneth Branagh team up for a genre-bending, action-packed buddy comedy that flips the spy thriller on its head. When hot shot U.S. Navy pilot Lieutenant Troy “Assassin” Kelly (Reynolds) is sent on a top-secret mission into Russian territory at the height of the Cold War, the operation implodes, leaving him stranded behind enemy lines. Discovered by Nikolai Ustinov (Branagh), a gruff ex-KGB agent with a penchant for American culture, Troy thinks he’s toast – but could an unlikely alliance between the two lead to Troy’s rescue, and a bond neither saw coming? Mayday is co-written and co-directed by the filmmaking duo John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein, director of the comedy movies Vacation, Game Night, and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves previously, plus writers on many other fun comedies. It’s produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Ashley Fox, and Johnny Pariseau. Made by Skydance Media, Maximum Effort, GoldDay, and Apple Studios. Apple debuts Daley & Goldstein’s Mayday buddy comedy streaming on Apple TV starting on September 4th, 2026 coming soon. Who’s in?
