The Mongoose, an action thriller starring Liam Neeson, opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, October 30, through Samuel Goldwyn Films, according to The Numbers. It arrives the day before Halloween with no reviews published that we could find.
A note on dates: our film page still lists October 29. The Numbers and Wikipedia give October 30, and one German listing shows a Thursday premiere. Check your local theater listing before you go.
The Basics
- Director and writer: Mark Vanselow directs from a screenplay by Thompson Evans.
- Cast: Liam Neeson as Ryan "Fang" Flanagan, with Marisa Tomei as Tara, Ving Rhames as Tanker, Michael Chiklis as Pope and Maurice Marvel Meredith as Tilton.
- Premise: a war hero, falsely accused of a crime, leads police on a televised cross-country car chase with the help of former Special Forces battalion members. That summary comes from an Australian government news item cited on Wikipedia, not a studio synopsis.
- Rating and length: rated R for some violence, bloody images and language, per The Numbers. The runtime is 96 minutes, though one ticketing site lists 98.
- Production: shot in Victoria, Australia, with Code Entertainment among the production companies. It is a U.S.-Australian film.
- Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films, which acquired rights in May 2026, per Wikipedia.
Neeson's casting was announced in May 2024, and Tomei, Rhames and Chiklis were announced in February 2025.
What Is Still Unknown
- Reviews. None had been published by the time we checked, and we do not know the review embargo.
- Box office expectations. The Numbers lists no theater count or opening forecast yet.
- Budget. Wikipedia lists $20 million, but the source it cites is an article about an online leak, so we do not treat the figure as confirmed.
- Release scale. The Numbers shows a wide release in one listing, but sources disagree, so the number of theaters is unclear.
It also opens into a crowded weekend. Clayface, which opened at about $24 million, plays its second weekend, and Halloween falls on Saturday.
Editorial Take: A Liam Neeson action thriller is one of the more predictable products in cinema, and that is the appeal: you know the genre, the star and roughly the shape of the story. What is unusual here is the premise, a televised car chase led by a veteran with a unit behind him, which sounds closer to a chase film than the one-man-versus-the-world setup of his better-known thrillers. We would wait for the first reviews before paying for a theater seat, and the lack of any advance coverage is the main reason to be cautious.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When does The Mongoose come out? October 30, 2026, in U.S. theaters through Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Who is in The Mongoose? Liam Neeson, Marisa Tomei, Ving Rhames, Michael Chiklis and Maurice Marvel Meredith, directed by Mark Vanselow.
Is The Mongoose rated R? Yes. The Numbers lists R for some violence, bloody images and language.
How long is The Mongoose? 96 minutes, per The Numbers and Wikipedia.
What is The Mongoose about? A war hero accused of a crime he did not commit leads police on a televised cross-country car chase.
Is there a streaming date? None announced in the sources we found.
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