Simu Liu also stars in the action-comedy feature that begins streaming this summer on Prime Video.
John Cena (left) and Awkwafina in ‘Jackpot!’ Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
Awkwafina and John Cena find that winning the lottery is not all it’s cracked up to be in the trailer for the action-comedy movie Jackpot!
The Amazon MGM Studios film from director Paul Feig begins streaming via Prime Video on Aug. 15. Set in Los Angeles in 2030, Jackpot! focuses on Katie (Awkwafina), a struggling actress who wins the lottery without realizing that the state of California grants everyone else until sundown to murder the winner and claim the prize money without consequences. Helping Katie to stay alive is an amateur lottery protection agent (Cena), who gets a cut of the cash if she survives.
“Katie, you won the lottery. Now, anyone with a losing ticket that kills you before sundown gets your money — legally,” Cena explains in the trailer. After Awkwafina replies that this sounds like murder, he clarifies, “Oh, not in California. It’s just a chance at the big time.”
Later, Awkwafina tells him, “I do trust you. I think it’s because you look like a bulldog that, like, a witch cast a spell on and turned into a human. You ever get that?”
Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat) directed Jackpot! (formerly known as Grand Death Lotto) from a script by Rob Yescombe. Simu Liu, Ayden Mayeri, Donald Elise Watkins, Sam Asghari and Murray Hill round out the cast for the project that is produced by Feig, Joe Roth, Jeff Kirschenbaum and Laura Fischer.
Marketing for the film includes a giveaway in which one lucky winner gets Buffalo Wild Wings food for a decade, with details on the promotion available here.
Cena has had a busy year, having already appeared in the 2024 films Argylle and Ricky Stanicky, along with the new season of The Bear. Awkwafina co-starred in last year’s horror comedy Renfield and has done voice work in such recent features as The Little Mermaid, Kung Fu Panda 4 and IF.
During a conversation last year with The Hollywood Reporter about the state of comedy movies, Feig encouraged studios to continue taking chances with edgier offerings.
“For me, an R-rated comedy is the greatest art form of all because it can be honest,” Feig said at the time. “Everybody talks the way that people talk in real life. That’s the problem with PG-13 or PG movies: You’ve got a bad guy and he doesn’t swear. It’s like, ‘Is this real?’”
