Ordinarily when we see Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo sharing the screen, they’re fighting the good fight together as the MCU’s Thor and Hulk. In American Animals director Bart Layton’s upcoming LA set Amazon thriller Crime 101 however, the duo’s dynamic isn’t quite so, er, super. Here, Hemsworth is Davis, a fleet-footed jewel thief whose ‘one last job’ hits a snag when Ruffalo’s brilliantly named Detective Lou Lubesnick cobs onto a pattern in his heists, setting the two on a Heat-like collision course. Check out the trailer below;
Thor, Catwoman (well, Halle Berry), and The Joker (well, Barry Keoghan) teaming up to look cool, don disguises, and do crimes while a moustachioed Hulk sticks photos up on walls, squinting and saying things like “I’m gettin’ close…” as he closes in on his quarry? Yeah, we’re all the way in for this one. Over a half-decade on from docudrama thriller hybrid American Animals, it’s assuring to see in this first Crime 101 trailer that Layton — adapting Don Winslow’s novel — hasn’t lost his verve and directorial swagger in the last eight years, managing to find new vantage points on the concrete jungle of Los Angeles while tipping a hat to Michael Mann in the process.
And here’s the official synopsis for the movie, whose stacked line-up also features Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Nick Nolte: “Set against the sun-bleached grit of Los Angeles, Crime 101 weaves the tale of an elusive thief (Hemsworth) whose high-stakes heists unfolding along the iconic 101 freeway have mystified police. When he eyes the score of a lifetime with hopes of this being his final job, his path collides with a disillusioned insurance broker (Berry) who is facing her own crossroads, forcing the two to collaborate. Determined to crack the case, a relentless detective (Ruffalo) closes in on the operation, raising the stakes even higher. As the multimillion-dollar heist approaches, the line between hunter and hunted begins to blur.”
Boasting an all-star cast, stellar source material, and a director who’s last film we’re still raving about nearly a decade later, Crime 101 has all the makings of a certified banger. We’ll find out whether Layton and co can really bring the *ahem* heat with it when the movie hits cinemas on 13 February, 2026.
