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 20^th 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.

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.

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.

“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.”

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.