James Gunn Hails New R-Rated Action Movie As “One Of The Best”

Published Jun 14, 2026, 11:42 AM EDT

Gunn rose to prominence as a director with Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, and he has since gone on to become one of the biggest voices in the world of comic book movies. In addition to his successful Guardians trilogy, Gunn, who now serves as co-chairman and CEO of DC Studios with Peter Safran, most recently helmed Superman (2025). On top of shepherding the DCU, Gunn is working on a Superman sequel called Man of Tomorrow, but a recent social media post reveals he's also still making time to visit the theater for non-superhero fare.

In a new post on Threads, Gunn reveals that he recently watched The Furious in theaters, and he hails it as a major achievement in the world of action cinema. "Oh boy!" Gunn writes, "Just went with a bunch of #ManofTommorrow cast & crew to see #TheFurious. I didn't think [director Kenji Tanigaki] could outdo himself after the spectacular Walled In, but man The Furious really showed him as one of the best action filmmakers working. We all loved it!"

Gunn isn't the only one to praise The Furious. The film, which follows a father as he fights relentlessly to recover his abducted daughter, has been making waves in recent weeks for its exceptional action sequences, and it currently holds a strong 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a nearly matching Popcornmeter of 95%.

ScreenRant's own The Furious review from Josh Bate was similarly glowing. Bate awards the film a score of nine out of 10, calling it a "best-in-class action movie," while highlighting the intricate choreography and gut-punching sound design. He writes:

"Tanigaki brings a level of precision and craft to the proceedings, elevating The Furious from an entertaining thriller to a best-in-class action movie. Almost all the fight sequences deserve to be highlighted, such is the quality of the choreography – but one from relatively early in the film stands out above the rest."

Starring Miao Xie, Joe Taslim, Brian Le, and Enyou Yang, among others, The Furious has been compared to films like The Raid (2011) and John Wick (2014), with the action coming in a step above many of the other offerings in the genre. Whether that translates to box office success, however, remains to be seen.

Following a buzzy premiere at TIFF last year, the movie hit theaters on June 12, so it's still early days. Early figures have the action movie at a debut of $2.7 million from 1,251 theaters, and the acclaim could see the action flick enjoying relatively strong holds over the next few days and weeks.

Currently, there isn't a lot on offer in theaters in terms of pure action cinema. Even though The Furious is primarily in Mandarin and Tagalog, with only some English, it could still strike a chord with audiences in North America. Gunn's recent endorsement could end up giving it a nice little boost.

Release Date June 10, 2026

Runtime 113 minutes

Director Kenji Tanigaki

Writers Mak Tin-Shu, Shum Kwan-sin, Frank Hui, Lei Zhilong

Producers Bill Kong Chi-Keung, Frank Hui, Tam Chi-San