Nicholas Hoult and Zoë Kravitz are reuniting on screen more than a decade after appearing together in Mad Max: Fury Road, but their new film places them on opposite sides of a bank-robbery investigation. Directed by David Leitch, How to Rob a Bank follows a masked gang that livestreams its robberies online, turning criminal activity into a form of viral entertainment. As the group attracts an increasingly large audience, an FBI agent and a software expert become involved in the effort to identify and track down its members. The thriller also stars John C. Reilly, Anna Sawai, Pete Davidson, Rhenzy Feliz and Christian Slater, and is scheduled to open in theatres on November 13, 2026.
Hoult plays Ryan, known online as The Wolf, a former soldier who leads a crew of bank robbers operating in Pittsburgh. The gang wears animal masks during its robberies and broadcasts the operations through a YouTube channel called Who’s Hungry? The videos do more than document the crimes. They also offer instructions to followers, while the robbers claim that the money they steal is distributed to charities, schools and hospitals. By presenting themselves as modern-day Robin Hoods, the criminals attempt to build an online identity that sets them apart from conventional bank robbers. Their activities, however, attract attention beyond their intended audience, eventually bringing them into the sights of law enforcement.
That investigation leads to Reagan, played by Kravitz, a coding expert who is under house arrest. She is recruited by a retiring FBI agent, played by Reilly, to help identify the masked criminals. Reagan uses facial-recognition software to work through the digital trail left by the gang, making her technical expertise central to the investigation. Rather than positioning Kravitz as a conventional action hero, the film gives her a character whose skills and unusual circumstances place her at the heart of the pursuit. Her role also introduces a technological dimension to the story, with the investigation relying on the same digital environment that the robbers use to publicise their crimes.
The casting brings Hoult and Kravitz together again after George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). Their roles in the new film, however, place them in a very different relationship. Hoult leads the robbery crew, while Kravitz’s character helps the authorities identify and pursue it. The reunion therefore draws on the audience’s familiarity with the two performers without simply repeating the dynamic of their earlier collaboration. It also gives the film a recognisable pairing at the centre of a story built around a conflict between criminals and the people attempting to stop them.
Director David Leitch has approached the film’s visual style by distinguishing between the robbers’ online persona and their lives beyond the masks. The production used two separate camera setups to establish this difference. Dramatic scenes in which the characters appear without their masks were shot on 35mm film, while a dedicated stunt-focused unit, described as the “YouTube unit”, filmed the masked robberies using prosumer digital cameras. This creates two distinct visual textures within the same film. The 35mm footage provides the more conventional cinematic presentation, while the digital material is designed to resemble the immediate, less polished footage audiences might encounter while scrolling through online video platforms.
The distinction is particularly relevant to a story in which the criminals are not simply committing robberies but also turning those crimes into content. Their online broadcasts are part of the gang’s identity and influence how the public sees them. By giving these sequences a separate visual treatment, Leitch uses the filmmaking approach to reflect the difference between the gang’s public performance and the events taking place beyond the camera. The format also allows the robbery sequences to have a visual identity of their own rather than blending seamlessly into the film’s conventional dramatic scenes.
The production faced an additional challenge because Hoult sustained a torn ACL. Leitch had to account for the actor’s injury while planning and staging the film’s demanding action sequences. The separate stunt-focused unit helped the production capture the robbery material while limiting the physical demands placed on its lead actor. The use of two camera setups therefore served both a creative purpose and a practical production requirement, allowing the film to maintain its action-driven approach while working around the injury.
The film also includes a reference to a familiar title in the heist and crime genre. The animal masks worn by the robbers recall the disguises used by the bank robbers in Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break (1991). The connection is made explicit through Reilly’s FBI agent, who identifies the film as his favourite. The reference gives How to Rob a Bank a link to an earlier generation of crime cinema while updating the imagery for a story in which criminals can broadcast their actions and build an audience around them.
Pittsburgh also plays an important role in the production. Rather than relying entirely on studio sets, the filmmakers shot on location across the city. Real bridges and streets in Downtown Pittsburgh were shut down to accommodate car chases and other action sequences. Using the city’s actual roads and surroundings gives the film’s pursuit sequences a location-specific setting and makes Pittsburgh more than a backdrop for the story.
The supporting cast includes Anna Sawai, Pete Davidson, Rhenzy Feliz and Christian Slater, alongside Hoult, Kravitz and Reilly. Leitch directs from a screenplay by Mark Bianculli, bringing together a cast led by performers with experience across action, drama and comedy. Leitch’s previous directorial credits include Bullet Train and The Fall Guy, both of which combine action sequences with a strong emphasis on character and entertainment.
With a crew of livestreaming bank robbers, a technically skilled investigator, a visual approach that separates online footage from conventional cinematic scenes and a reunion of two Mad Max: Fury Road co-stars, How to Rob a Bank brings a social-media dimension to the familiar heist genre. Its November 13, 2026 theatrical release will introduce audiences to a story in which the criminals’ ability to turn their robberies into online spectacles becomes central to both their public image and the investigation against them.
