Kurt Russell’s New R-Rated Western Thriller Is Quickly Climbing Streaming Charts After Stellar RT Debut

Sep 22, 2026 - 01:09

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Kurt Russell’s New R-Rated Western Thriller Is Quickly Climbing Streaming Charts After Stellar RT Debut

Kurt Russell in The Rivals Of Amziah King

Published Sep 21, 2026, 5:03 PM EDT

Adam Bentz is a senior news writer at ScreenRant, where he has authored nearly 5,000 articles, including features and lists. He studied creative writing and English with a concentration in screenwriting at Southern New Hampshire University and interned as a writer/journalist for The Borgen Project, an influential organization that fights global poverty.

However, one of his proudest achievements is editing a Leonardo DiCaprio freakout compilation that has over 150K views on YouTube. Adam also fancies himself an amateur film critic on his personal website.

Though Kurt Russell has appeared in a variety of genres, he has starred in several Westerns over the decades. He began acting at the age of 12 in the Western TV series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (1963–1964), followed by Gunsmoke (1964) and The Road West (1967). However, he is better known for more modern hits in Tombstone (1993), Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight (2015), and Taylor Sheridan's The Madison (2026–).

Now, Kurt Russell's new Western, The Rivals of Amziah King, is quickly climbing the streaming charts. Written and directed by Andrew Patterson, the movie stars Matthew McConaughey as the titular Amziah King, a musician and beekeeper who reunites with his former foster daughter and must fend off threats to his honey business, including powerful businessman Dob McCoy (played by Kurt Russell).

The Rivals Of Amziah King Is Quickly Crushing It On Streaming

Quiz

8 Questions · Test Your Knowledge

John Wayne western movies
Trivia challenge

Saddle up and see how well you know the Duke's most legendary rides across the silver screen.

CharactersFilmsAwardsCo-StarsDirectors

Begin

For which film did John Wayne win his only Academy Award for Best Actor?

ATrue GritBThe ShootistCRio BravoDStagecoach

Correct! John Wayne won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1970 for his role as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit. It was a long-overdue recognition for one of Hollywood's biggest stars, who had been acting for over four decades by that point.

Not quite. John Wayne won his only Academy Award for Best Actor for True Grit in 1970, playing the gruff, one-eyed marshal Rooster Cogburn. Despite decades of iconic roles, it was his first and only Oscar win.

Continue

What is the name of John Wayne's character in the classic 1939 western Stagecoach?

ACole ThorntonBThe Ringo KidCTom DoniphonDHondo Lane

Correct! Wayne played The Ringo Kid in Stagecoach, the breakout role that made him a major Hollywood star. Directed by John Ford, the film is widely considered a landmark of the western genre.

Not quite. Wayne's iconic role in Stagecoach was The Ringo Kid, an outlaw seeking revenge who ends up helping his fellow stagecoach passengers. The role launched his career into superstardom after years of B-movie westerns.

Continue

Which legendary director worked with John Wayne most frequently throughout his career?

AHoward HawksBRaoul WalshCJohn FordDHenry Hathaway

Correct! John Ford and John Wayne formed one of cinema's greatest director-actor partnerships, collaborating on classics like Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Ford directed Wayne in at least 14 films over several decades.

Not quite. John Ford was the director most closely associated with John Wayne, guiding him through some of his most celebrated performances. Their partnership produced masterpieces like The Searchers and Fort Apache, defining the golden age of the western.

Continue

In The Searchers (1956), what is the name of the young girl John Wayne's character spends years searching for?

ALaurie JorgensenBDebbie EdwardsCSandy McCallDLucy Edwards

Correct! Debbie Edwards, played by Natalie Wood as a teenager, is the niece that Wayne's Ethan Edwards relentlessly pursues after she is taken by Comanche raiders. The Searchers is frequently cited as one of the greatest westerns ever made.

Not quite. The girl Wayne's character Ethan Edwards hunts for across years of rugged frontier is his niece Debbie Edwards, played by Natalie Wood. The Searchers is considered by many critics to be the finest western ever put to film.

Continue

Which 1969 film saw John Wayne play alongside Glen Campbell and Kim Darby in his Oscar-winning role?

AEl DoradoBRio LoboCTrue GritDThe Sons of Katie Elder

Correct! True Grit featured Wayne alongside singer Glen Campbell and Kim Darby, who played the determined young Mattie Ross. The film was directed by Henry Hathaway and was later remade by the Coen Brothers in 2010.

Not quite. True Grit was the 1969 film that paired Wayne with Glen Campbell and Kim Darby, earning him his only Oscar. Kim Darby played Mattie Ross, the sharp-witted girl who hires Wayne's Rooster Cogburn to track down her father's killer.

Continue

Which actor co-starred with John Wayne in both Rio Bravo (1959) and El Dorado (1966)?

AJames StewartBDean MartinCRobert MitchumDKirk Douglas

Correct! Dean Martin appeared alongside Wayne in both Rio Bravo and El Dorado, both directed by Howard Hawks. Martin played a deputy struggling with alcoholism in Rio Bravo, a role that earned considerable praise for the Rat Pack entertainer.

Not quite. Dean Martin was the co-star who appeared with John Wayne in both Rio Bravo and El Dorado. Director Howard Hawks brought the duo back together for El Dorado, which served as a loose remake of Rio Bravo with a slightly different cast.

Continue

What was the final film John Wayne appeared in before his death in 1979?

ACahill U.S. MarshalBRooster CogburnCThe ShootistDMcQ

Correct! The Shootist (1976) was John Wayne's final film, in which he played J.B. Books, an aging gunfighter dying of cancer. The role poignantly mirrored Wayne's own real-life battle with cancer, adding a deeply personal layer to his farewell performance.

Not quite. John Wayne's last film was The Shootist in 1976, where he played a dying gunslinger grappling with his legacy. The film was a touching and fitting send-off, with Wayne's real-life cancer diagnosis lending the performance an unmistakable emotional weight.

Continue

In The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), what is the name of John Wayne's rugged rancher character?

ARanse StoddardBTom DoniphonCBuck LanghorneDClay Allison

Correct! Wayne played Tom Doniphon, a tough and selfless rancher who knows the real truth behind the legend of who shot the villain Liberty Valance. The film also starred James Stewart and Lee Marvin, and is celebrated for its meditation on myth versus reality.

Not quite. John Wayne's character in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was Tom Doniphon, a rancher who ultimately sacrifices his own legacy for the greater good. The film is famous for the line 'When the legend becomes fact, print the legend,' which speaks to its central themes.

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Released on digital platforms on September 15, The Rivals of Amziah King is already No. 14 on Amazon's top movies in the United States for today, September 21, where it has been for the past two days. As a fairly newly released title, The Rivals of Amziah King should continue to climb the chart in the coming days.

Right now, The Rivals of Amziah King ranks below The End of Oak Street, Minions & Monsters, Backrooms, Practical Magic, Mutiny, Obsession, The Invite, Toy Story 5, Evil Dead Burn, Disclosure Day, Michael, Moana, One Night Only, and above In the Grey, Motor City, The Housemaid, The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Death of Robin Hood, and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

The Rivals of Amziah King is currently available to rent or buy on Prime Video from $19.99.

This comes after The Rivals of Amziah King recieved rave reviews, debuting with a stellar 95% Rotten Tomatoes score, with critics calling it an ambitious and unpredictable genre-bender brought to life by Matthew McConaughey's magnetic performance and Angelina LookingGlass' impressive debut. Its score has since dropped to 89%.

Russell Is Enjoying A New Era Of Western Hits

Though he is well known for playing Wyatt Earp in Tombstone, Kurt Russell has recently been enjoying a new era of Western hits. In 2015, Russell garnered renewed acclaim for his performance as Sheriff Franklin Hunt in the horror-tinged Bone Tomahawk. Just months after that, he starred as bounty hunter John "the Hangman" Ruth in Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight.

He currently stars as family patriarch Preston Clyburn in Taylor Sheridan's modern Western series The Madison (2026–), which has already been renewed for seasons 3 and 4, with Russell expected to reprise his role. With The Rivals of Amziah King now gaining momentum, Russell's latest Western proves he still knows how to make the genre his own.