Priyanka Chopra Jonas is heading back to the high seas. Prime Video will debut the action‑driven pirate thriller The Bluff on February 25. Directed by Frank E. Flowers and rated R in the US, the film blends gritty 19th‑century pirate action with an intimate, family‑centered story.
What Is The Bluff About?
Set in the 1800s in the Cayman Islands, The Bluff follows Ercell “Bloody Mary” Bodden, once a fearsome pirate who has tried to bury her violent past. Now living quietly with her husband T. H., her son Isaac, and her sister‑in‑law Elizabeth, she’s built a fragile sense of normal life far from the bloodshed she left behind.
That peace shatters when Connor, Ercell’s former captain, tracks her down with a singular goal: vengeance. His arrival pulls Ercell back into the brutal world she fought to escape, turning her into the only line of defense between her family and the cutthroat crew hunting them.
Rather than telling a sweeping, globe‑trotting pirate saga, the film tightens its focus around an inescapable confrontation. Ercell is cornered — there’s nowhere to run, no neutral waters to hide in. The story revolves around that pressure cooker dynamic: a woman forced to weaponize everything she knows about violence and piracy to keep her loved ones alive.
Expect knife fights, close‑quarters combat, and a constant tension between who Ercell used to be and who she’s trying to become. The emotional core never strays far from her family, even as the film leans hard into survival, power struggles, and revenge.
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas vs. Karl Urban
Priyanka Chopra Jonas anchors the film as Ercell “Bloody Mary” Bodden, giving the pirate archetype a more grounded, maternal spin. Her character isn’t chasing treasure or glory; she’s trying to keep her family alive while confronting the wreckage of her old life.
Opposite her, Karl Urban (known to US audiences from The Boys, Star Trek, and Dredd) plays Connor, her former captain and now relentless pursuer. The dynamic between them is central to the movie — not just hero versus villain, but two pirates shaped by the same brutal world, now standing on opposite sides of a vendetta.
Main Cast and Characters
- Priyanka Chopra Jonas as Ercell Bodden
- Karl Urban as Connor
- Ismael Cruz Córdova as T. H. Bodden
- Safia Oakley-Green as Elizabeth Bodden
- Vedanten Naidoo as Isaac
- Temuera Morrison as Quartermaster Lee
The cast pulls together talent from different regions and backgrounds, reinforcing the film’s global appeal while still speaking directly to US streaming audiences who know these actors from major genre hits.
Behind the Scenes: From Australia to the Caribbean
Production on The Bluff ran from June to August 2024. The movie was shot primarily in Australia — including at the well‑known Village Roadshow Studios — with additional location work in the Cayman Islands to ground the story in its Caribbean setting.
The mix of studio environments and real coastal landscapes gives the 19th‑century pirate world a tangible, physical feel: dense foliage, rock faces, and shoreline vistas instead of glossy, overly polished fantasy backdrops.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and AGBO Studios are behind the production, with Amazon MGM Studios handling distribution and an exclusive global streaming rollout on Prime Video.
Tone, Rating, and What Kind of Pirate Movie This Is
The Bluff is not a family‑friendly, swashbuckling romp. It leans into the harsher side of piracy and frontier life. The film’s R rating in the United States reflects:
- Frequent, intense hand‑to‑hand combat
- Heavy use of blades and close‑range weapons
- Direct, sometimes graphic depictions of violence
Genre‑wise, you can think of it as a hybrid between a survival thriller and a revenge‑driven action film, with pirates as the backdrop. The story continually brings the focus back to family: what a parent is willing to do, and what they’re willing to become again, when their partner, child, and extended family are threatened.
The script is an original story written by Joe Ballarini and Frank E. Flowers, so viewers won’t need to be familiar with any existing book, comic, or franchise before pressing play.
Release Details: When and Where to Stream
For US viewers and global subscribers alike, The Bluff will launch exclusively on Amazon’s Prime Video. There is currently no theatrical release planned in the United States.
Release date on Prime Video: February 25
As with other Prime Video originals, the film will be available to all Prime members at no extra subscription cost once it drops on the platform.
Why The Bluff Matters for Pirate Stories on Streaming
Streaming platforms have delivered a wave of pirate‑adjacent content over the past few years, but few projects commit to a ground‑level, character‑first take on piracy. The Bluff aims to fill that space by centering a woman pirate whose identity is shaped as much by motherhood and regret as by violence and command.
For US audiences who enjoyed genre pieces like The Northman, The Revenant, or the grittier arcs of shows like Black Sails, this film could hit a similar sweet spot: harsh environments, moral compromise, and a protagonist forced to revisit the worst parts of her history to survive.
FAQ
When will The Bluff be available on Prime Video?
The Bluff will stream exclusively on Prime Video starting February 25. It will be included with a standard Prime membership in the United States.
Is The Bluff based on a book, a true story, or an existing franchise?
No. The movie is built on an original screenplay written by Joe Ballarini and Frank E. Flowers. It is not adapted from a novel, a comic, a historical account, or another IP.
What kind of movie is The Bluff in terms of genre and tone?
The Bluff is an action‑adventure pirate thriller with strong survival and revenge elements. It is rated R in the US for intense, often close‑quarters violence and is not designed as a family film.
Who stars in The Bluff and which characters do they play?
Priyanka Chopra Jonas plays former pirate Ercell “Bloody Mary” Bodden, while Karl Urban portrays her vengeful former captain, Connor. The main cast also includes Ismael Cruz Córdova as T. H. Bodden, Safia Oakley-Green as Elizabeth Bodden, Vedanten Naidoo as Isaac, and Temuera Morrison as Quartermaster Lee.
