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A cop accused of murdering his wife must battle the highly advanced crime-solving tech of the future to prove his innocence. It could be Minority Report. Or it could be Mercy, which doesn’t quite look on the level of that Philip K. Dick-Steven Spielberg-Tom Cruise classic, but it does have some intriguing points, including Rebecca Ferguson as an AI-powered judge equipped to execute instantly in the event of a guilty verdict.
Chris Pratt is the star, though, so you’ve been warned; this will mostly be the Chris Pratt Show. According to NYCC’s panel description, Mercy is set in the near future, as “an LAPD detective (Pratt) wakes up strapped to an execution chair, on trial for murdering his wife. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence to Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson), an advanced AI system, or face immediate death.”
Check out the first trailer for Mercy, which also stars Kali Reis (True Detective), Annabelle Wallis (Peaky Blinders), and Chris Sullivan (This Is Us), among others.
Director Timur Bekmanbetov is known for his high-stakes thrillers; his previous works include Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, as well as Night Watch and Day Watch, early-career Russian releases before he ventured to Hollywood.
Can Pratt’s character beat the system, having helped bring the system to life? Will he realize the dangers of giving AI too much control? Will Mercy join movies like Minority Report and Demolition Man in the pantheon of entertaining “future cop” movies, or will it be as doomed as a convicted killer in near-future LA?
Perhaps of even greater concern is how much of a “screen-life” movie it appears to be. Will it be next year’s War of the Worlds, with Chris Pratt doing all of his acting from chair jail?
We’ll find out January 23, 2026, when Mercy hits theaters, including in IMAX and 3D.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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