While fans patiently wait for that highly-anticipated James Bond announcement, frontrunner Richard Madden has a different thriller on offer.
Killer Heat has debuted on Prime Video and despite the hype on social media for the possible 007, the murder mystery has fallen flat for viewers.
Adapted from the short story The Jealousy Man by Jo Nesbø, it sees a private investigator arrive on a small island in Greece where a man has fallen to his death in mysterious circumstances.
The investigator becomes swept up in a sordid love triangle, delving deeper into the criminal underbelly of the sun-soaked island.
The film has an impressive cast with Fight Club’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Divergent’s Shailene Woodley joining the Game of Thrones icon.
However, it has failed to win viewers over as it debuts with a measly 17% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Viewers panned it as ‘boring’ and ‘kind of pointless’ on the review site, while critics called it ‘stiff’ and ‘forgettable’.
Daniel J wrote: ‘I didn’t have a specific pinpointed attribute of this movie I hate. Just the basic Idea. What a mystery that a free solo climber might actually fall off a cliff…….’
Rory O added: ‘Very much background tv, kind of pointless. Could have been good.’
A particularly scathing review came from Carli L who said: ‘This is just the worst movie I’ve watched all year. JGL seems like he’s suffering from indigestion or constipation the whole time, and his outfit makes me want to vomit into my mouth a little bit.
‘He looks like the guy standing by the drinks table that you’d avoid at a party. His back story with his ex-wife makes him even worse- like the kind of weird, angry online dude who posts hateful things about women. Shailene Woodley has the same kind of suffering look on her face I would have if I had to deal with him.
‘I usually like both of these actors. What went wrong? I just don’t understand how this got made.’
Fans on social media had been excited to see the thriller after the trailer dropped earlier this month, with many praising Richard’s toned and tanned look.
‘FINALLYYYY ARGHHH MR MADDEN LOOKING SO HOTTTT but i think i can guess the plot twist of the movie 🤣🤣,’ joked Tin on X.
‘I don’t care if the film is bad or not because if Richard is in it I’m watching,’ added Corey.
This is by no means Richard’s lowest-rated film though, that honour is held by 2010’s Chatroom, which is rated at 9% and also stars fellow Bond-to-be Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
The duo are both top picks to take over from Daniel Craig, along with Happy Valley’s James Norton and Bridgerton’s Rege-Jean Page.
Richard has been previously grilled about taking on the role of Bond but refused to give anything away.
He said coyly at the time: ‘Lots of people talk, it’s just talk… I’m just happy to be here, this is a mad dream for me!’