Spy Games In D.C.: ‘The Amateur' Celebrates Digital Release With Director James Hawes
Secrets and danger. Complex plots and cover-ups. Suspense and intrigue. High-stakes operations and unexpected twists. And stories that unravel like puzzles, with each piece more thrilling than the last. The commonality? These are the descriptors for the spy-espionage content category, which was the theme at a recent press event in Washington D.C. orchestrated by Disney and 20th Century Studios in honor of the recent digital release of the James Hawes spy thriller The Amateur.
Based on the 1981 novel by Robert Littell, The Amateur, which opened in theaters in April, is now available for viewers to watch at home at Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Fandango.
"The Amateur" is now available for viewers to watch at home at Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and ... More Fandango.
Inside the Plot
Filmed across London, Paris, Istanbul, and Madrid, The Amateur stars Rami Malek as Charlie Heller, a CIA cryptographer whose quiet life unravels after his wife's (Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) murder by terrorists. Suddenly, Malek's Charlie shifts into vigilante mode. But does he have what it takes to find justice?
LONDON, ENGLAND: James Hawes attends the European Premiere of 20th Century Studios' "The Amateur" at ... More Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on March 31, 2025 in London, England. (Photo byfor The Walt Disney Company Limited)
From Cryptographer to Operative: The Unlikely Hero of The Amateur
Shades of the Charles Bronson vigilante classic Death Wish blended with the more current Jason Bourne movie franchise, Charlie demands expert training at a military base with a license to hunt down the four assailants himself. But, new to the spy game, he finds himself in over his head as he travels across the globe to find the assailants who killed his wife. Enter Laurence Fishburne as Robert "Hendo" Henderson, a grizzled old school CIA operative who underestimates Charlie due to his unassuming nature and lack of a "killer instinct.' However, Charlie demonstrates an unexpected capacity for lethal action, using his intelligence and computer skills to orchestrate elaborate and unconventional methods of eliminating his enemies.
The result is a riveting spy thriller packed with exotic locations, top-tier performances, and enough twists to leave audiences wanting more.
'The spy/espionage genre puts an everyday person out into the world. You don't have to join the Army or NASA, or go to war anywhere extreme, to be that kind of hero,' said James Hawes, who directed The Amateur and is known for his work on television series like Doctor Who, Black Mirror, and the Emmy Award-winning spy thriller Slow Horses, 'You don't have to go to space and you don't have to go to underwater. It could be on your own streets where suddenly the world is turned upside down.'
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - MARCH 31: Director James Hawes attends the European premiere of 'The ... More Amateur' at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London, United Kingdom on March 31, 2025. (Photo by Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A Night at the Spy Museum
Hawes spoke with journalists and media influencers at the June 18 event in Washington, D.C., who were treated to a private tour at the International Spy Museum led by Jonna Mendez, the former CIA Chief of Disguise and wife of Tony Mendez (the real-life inspiration for the 2012 Oscar-winning film Argo); and an Embassy Row walking spy tour guided Rosanna Minchew, a former CIA director of Operations.
The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. documents the tradecraft, history, and contemporary ... More role of the intelligence field and espionage.
Specifically, Tony Mendez, a CIA operative, orchestrated the rescue of six American diplomats during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, using a fake movie project called "Argo" as a cover. His book Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History served as the basis for the 2012 film Argo, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Retired CIA operative Tony Mendez photographed at his gallery in rural Maryland with the movie ... More poster of Argo, and Ben Affleck in his role on February 19, 2013. The film won the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards held on February 24, 2013. (Photo by Mark Makela/Corbis via Getty Images)
After retiring from the CIA in 1993, Tony and Jonna served on the board of directors for the International Spy Museum, where they were both involved in the museum planning and design. Founded in 2002, the International Spy Museum is dedicated to the history and practice of espionage, tracing its history back as early as the Ancient Greeks and the Roman Empire to modern day.
The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., which opened in 2002, displays more than 7,000 ... More artifacts with approximately 1,000 on public display, accompanied by historical photographs, interactive displays, film, and video.
'We lived under deep cover. No one knew what we did for a living,' noted Mendez, who detailed her top-secret association with the CIA in her 2024 memoir In True Face: A Woman's Life in the CIA, Unmasked.
'It was a career I loved. I was doing work that mattered, work that made a difference – making history in some small way,' wrote Mendez in her book. 'I was, after all, just a girl from Kansas seeking adventure, never dreaming that would translate into a life that was both covert and trailblazing.'
'I loved The Amateur and I don't usually love spy shows,' said Jonna Mendez on the tour, noting similarities in her career that Rami Malek's character in the film faced. 'I didn't have Laurence Fishburne training me, however.'
Jonna Mendez, the former CIA Chief of Disguise, serves on the board of directors for the ... More International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.
While fans of the spy-espionage category of storytelling may recall an earlier Canadian film of the same name also based on the same Robert Littell novel, James Hawes cites only one similarity: the casting of Swiss actress Marthe Keller in a cameo as the flower seller.
CANNES, FRANCE: Jury member Marthe Keller attends the Jury Un Certain Regard Photocall during the ... More 69th annual Cannes Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals on May 13, 2016 in Cannes, France. (Photo by)
Hawes emphasized that the film is a reinterpretation of Littell's novel rather than a remake: 'Naturally, we were inspired by the underlying concepts of the novel. We have the essence of it. We update it. And, of course, the film takes place in a different climate,' he said. 'But, for the film buffs out there, there is a character in the original movie played by Marthe Keller who, as a favor to me, agreed to return in this one scene.'
'The goal behind The Amateur was to be a new version of the novel rather than a remake of the earlier film,' he said.
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