Chris Pratt Trains a Bullied Nephew in the First 'Way of the Warrior Kid' Trailer

Apple TV has a knack for turning bestselling books into streaming events, and its next family drama is aiming squarely at middle schoolers and their parents. ‘Way of the Warrior Kid‘ pairs a movie star with a young breakout and a classic underdog setup built around bullying, discipline and courage.

The film adapts the 2017 novel by former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink, whose children’s book series was inspired by a lack of good role models in the books he read to his own kids. It’s an Apple Original Films project made with Skydance Media, and its release date has been on the calendar since February.

Now the first footage has arrived. Apple TV released the first trailer for ‘Way of the Warrior Kid’ on Tuesday, giving viewers a look at Chris Pratt as a decorated Navy SEAL who trains his bullied nephew, played by Jude Hill, ahead of the film’s November 20 premiere.

The two-minute-plus teaser opens with sweeping jungle imagery before settling into the heart of the story. It then turns to the training Jake looks to impart on his nephew, along with a glimpse of a harrowing event in which Marc himself gets to try to be a hero.

The footage leans on both heart and action. That fits the film’s pitch, which is less about teaching a kid to throw a punch than about showing him what real courage looks like.

Every kid needs someone in their corner. #WayOfTheWarriorKid — Streaming November 25 https://t.co/IWCDpdHMYW
— Apple TV (@AppleTV) October 27, 2026

Middle school has been a nightmare for Marc, a good kid who’s bullied by his classmates and feels like he’s behind in everything, from academics to P.E. to making friends. Things change when his injured Uncle Jake, a decorated Navy SEAL, comes to spend the summer recuperating with Marc and his mom, Sarah.

To help Marc defend himself, Jake devises an ambitious program he calls ‘Operation Warrior Kid’, based on his SEAL training. Instead of teaching his nephew how to fight, Jake shows Marc what real courage is, facing down his own demons along the way.

Pratt plays Jake, with Hill as Marc and Linda Cardellini as Sarah. Hill earned a breakout following the Belfast-set drama ‘Belfast’, while Cardellini is a three-time Emmy nominee for ‘Dead to Me’.

The supporting cast includes Ava Torres, Levi McConaughey, Darien Sills-Evans, Carl McDowell and Parker Young. Willink himself appears in the film as himself.

The project marks a few firsts for its star. According to Screen Rant, it’s Pratt’s first live-action film geared toward a family-friendly audience, and his first collaboration with Apple TV.

It also arrives during a busy stretch for him, with ‘The Terminal List’ Season 2 streaming on Prime Video earlier this month. When the project was first announced, Pratt said he felt called to the material and believed the film could help shape today’s youth, comparing its potential to classics like ‘Karate Kid’ or ‘Rocky’.

McG, known for ‘Charlie’s Angels’ and ‘Terminator Salvation’, directs from a screenplay by Will Staples, whose credits include ‘Without Remorse’ and ‘The Right Stuff’. Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger produce, along with McG and Mary Viola for Wonderland Sound, and Pratt through Indivisible Productions.

Ben Everard, Bruce Wayne Gillies and Willink also produce, with Staples, Steven Bello and Cliff Lanning serving as executive producers. Skydance reportedly sealed an $85 million global deal for the movie before it even hit the Cannes market.

The film premieres globally on Apple TV on November 20, just in time for the Thanksgiving week, and carries a PG-13 rating according to Rotten Tomatoes. Apple first unveiled it at its 2026 Apple TV Press Day in February, where Pratt, Cardellini, Hill and Willink took the stage together.

A new poster arrived earlier this week, and the trailer is the next step in the marketing push. With a bullied-kid-and-mentor setup that echoes the sports and martial arts classics of past decades, Apple appears to be betting on a feel-good crowd-pleaser.