The Best Movies Coming to Amazon Prime Video in August 2022 – MovieWeb

A slew of engrossing movies are making their way to Amazon Prime Video this August, with impressive new films and fan favorites coming to streaming.
A slew of engrossing movies are making their way to Amazon Prime Video this August, with impressive new films and fan-favorites being released. The prominent platform has a wide array of genres being added to its already extensive library, ranging from captivating dramas to beloved comedy classics, and everything in between. Revered director Ron Howard is bringing the uplifting true story of the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue to the big screen with Thirteen Lives, while Sylvester Stallone is taking on the role of a superhero in the upcoming Mythos Comics adaptation of their graphic novel Samaritan.
In addition to highly-anticipated new releases, some of Hollywood’s most beloved flicks are also making their way to Amazon Prime Video, with the Nicolas Cage Oscar-winning drama Leaving Las Vegas joining its catalog as well as the heist comedy A Fish Called Wanda and iconic Paul Newman and Robert Redford masterpiece Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The streaming service certainly knows how to amass a dazzling selection of both fascinating films and TV shows, effortlessly competing with fellow platforms like Netflix and Hulu. These are the best movies coming to Amazon Prime Video in August 2022.
Depicting the harrowing events of the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue and the courageous individuals who saved a Thai soccer team trapped for 18 days, the 2022 biographical survival drama Thirteen Lives is directed by Ron Howard and recounts the valiant efforts of those brave men and women. While the story was recently told from a different perspective in the great documentary The Rescue, this dramatization is sure to increase the suspense with the tools of narrative cinema.
Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell appear as British cave divers Richard Stanton and John Volanthen, respectively, chronicling their immense bravery as the pair served as leading forces in the recovery of the stranded team, with the two seasoned professionals having been the first to make contact and discover the missing group. On helming the gripping picture, Howard stated, “People think they know the story, but there’s so much more to learn, and what there is to learn is suspenseful and emotional.”
Nicolas Cage won the Academy Award for Best Actor when he starred as the alcoholic Ben Sanderson in the bleak 1995 drama Leaving Las Vegas, which follows the suicidal Sanderson as he flees Los Angeles for Sin City after losing his family and friends. He heads to Las Vegas to drink himself into an early grave, but finds his seemingly foolproof plan thwarted when he falls for the tough prostitute Sera (Elisabeth Shue). Based on the semi-autobiographical John O’Brien novel, the gritty drama earned widespread praise from critics and audiences alike, with Cage’s performance being singled out; Roger Ebert declared the role his greatest yet, writing in his review that, “Cage, a resourceful and daring actor, has never been better.”
Adapted from the popular video game series, the 2022 action-adventure comedy Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the highly-anticipated sequel to the 2020 flick that focuses on the titular character as he partners up with Miles “Tails” Prower to locate the Master Emerald before the villainous Dr. Robotnik and his accomplice Knuckles the Echidna find it. With an exceptional cast led by Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, and Idris Elba, the nostalgia-fueled comedy was widely regarded as an improvement over its predecessor, garnering praise for its cast performances, visuals, action sequences and overall humor. Due to the overwhelming success of the installment, a third film and Knuckles miniseries spin-off is currently in the works at Paramount+.
Hollywood heavy-hitters Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum headlined the 2022 action-adventure comedy The Lost City, which centers on savvy romance novelist Loretta Sage and her dimwitted cover model Alan Caprison as they are forced to discover the location of the mysterious lost city she described in her book by a conniving billionaire. Moviegoers couldn’t get enough of the charming duo’s dynamite chemistry, with the comedy also being lauded as the first film of the pandemic era to attract a predominantly female audience.
Related: Sandra Bullock Reveals the Strange Reason Brad Pitt Appears in The Lost City
On the triumph, Bullock said, “Women of a certain age that aren’t 18 don’t go out on the first weekend. We have other sh*t to take care of … like families and careers. That’s why, if you’re lucky, you have a movie that sticks around. This movie made it worth the trip to the movie theater.”
From the brilliant mind of John Cleese comes the 1988 heist comedy A Fish Called Wanda, in which the revered English actor appears alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin as a group of diamond thieves who hilariously attempt to double-cross one another in hopes of nabbing the coveted jewel and coming out on top.
Cleese wrote the story with the comedy’s director Charles Crichton over the course of two-and-a-half years, naming his character Archie Leach (the legendary Cary Grant’s real name), doing so because, “I feel this film is as near as I'll ever get to being Cary Grant.” During its initial run in theaters, a Danish audiologist named Ole Bentzen died while laughing during a screening, with the media reporting he died from laughter (despite his cause of death technically being heart fibrillation).
Sylvester Stallone stars as the titular retired superhero and masked vigilante of Granite City in the upcoming big-screen extravaganza Samaritan. The film follows the thrilling tale of a 13-year-old boy who begins to believe his secretive and reclusive next-door-neighbor may in fact be the once revered hero. Mr. Smith/Samaritan, long since believed to be dead, finds himself coaxed out of hiding when he learns his beloved city is on the brink of destruction and chaos, resulting in the older man once again donning his super-powered persona.
In a statement regarding the Mythos Comics graphic novel adaptation, Stallone expressed, “I love action films that also have heart. I wanted to be involved with Samaritan because this story has many layers that I think people can relate to. It’s something of a morality tale that is also very exciting to watch.”
Hailed as one of the greatest westerns of all time, the 1969 classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid features silver screen legends Paul Newman and Robert Redford as the iconic outlaw duo on the run from the authorities after committing a series of high-profile train robberies. Famous for its blaze-of-glory epic climax, the ‘60s staple left audiences on the edge of their seats when director George Roy Hill ended the picture on a freeze-frame, leaving the notorious criminal’s fates a thrilling mystery.
Related: Best Western Movies of All Time, Ranked
In their retrospective review, Empire declared, “Note-perfect performances, a screenplay steeped in both nostalgia and a timely sense of insight, and anti-heroes you can't help but love: it's no surprise that the always re-watchable Butch And Sundance was once labeled the most likable film ever made.”
Paul Thomas Anderson directed the award-winning 2021 comedy drama Licorice Pizza, telling the nostalgic tale of a blossoming romance between a 15-year-old actor Gary Valentine and photographer assistant Alana Kane as they navigate life in San Fernando Valley in 1973. Inspired by Anderson’s own experiences growing up as well as the classic films Fast Times at Ridgemont High and American Graffiti, the dramedy’s unique title is actually named after a defunct chain or record shops in California.
The director later explained to Variety, “If there's two words that make me kind of have a Pavlovian response and memory of being a child and running around, it's 'licorice' and 'pizza'…It instantly takes me back to that time” adding that the title “seemed like a catch-all for the feeling of the film […] that go well together and maybe capture a mood."

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