The President Takes the Wheel, Samuel L. Jackson Premieres The Beast at the Academy Museum

Samuel L. Jackson arrived on Tuesday, October 6, for the Los Angeles premiere of The Beast at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, according to BroadwayWorld. Director Renny Harlin walked the carpet with Jackson and cast members Joel Kinnaman and Guy Burnet. After the screening, guests moved on to an after party at the Petersen Automotive Museum, a fitting address for a film that lives almost entirely inside a car.

In The Beast, Jackson plays the president of the United States. When a militia of unidentified hostiles coordinates a coup, the president is forced to drive the presidential limousine himself and unlock its classified offensive capabilities to save his injured Secret Service agent, reunite with his wife and save the world, according to the film’s synopsis as published by BroadwayWorld. Kinnaman plays the wounded agent, Taft, and Eoin Macken is also in the cast, according to Collider. Umair Aleem wrote the screenplay.

The film runs 99 minutes and opens in theaters on Friday, October 9, Collider reported. Its sneak peek clip shows a nighttime chase with Kinnaman hanging out of the limousine’s open rear door and fighting off a masked attacker while Jackson keeps driving.

The premiere reunited two men with a long history in the action business. Harlin directed Die Hard 2 and worked with Jackson on The Long Kiss Goodnight, Collider noted. In an early review, UPI critic Fred Topel called the film a lean, contained action movie built to celebrate Jackson’s screen persona. He reported that Harlin shot the street action in Madrid, standing in for the East Coast, and played it on LED screens behind the car on a soundstage.

The Academy Museum has become a regular stop for big screen nights this fall, from Beyond Fest revivals to Kurt Russell and John Carpenter’s Escape from L.A. screening.