Summary
The Hard Wayhas become a streaming hit on Netflix. The action movie, which follows a soldier gathering some friends to help him seek revenge for the death of his brother in Romania, was released direct-to-VOD in 2019 and largely flew under the radar. It didn’t even receive enough reviews to earn an official critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, though audiences were largely negative toward the release, giving it an 18% score at the time of writing. However, the movie does feature some notable names includingThe ExpendablesstarRandy Couture andSpawn’s Michael Jai White.
Netflixhas now calculated their global Top 10 chart of the most-watched English-language movies for the week of July 1 through July 7.The Hard Wayhas landed at No. 9 on the chartthanks to 3.4 million viewers amassing a total of 5.4 million viewing hours. It has managed to land on the chart despite it being populated with a variety of more current Netflix originals that have become hits includingTrigger Warning,A Family Affair, andBeverly Hills Cop: Axel F.
The Stars Of The Hard Way Haven’t Entirely Turned Things Around
Randy Couture Followed The Movie With A Major Action Flop
The lack of critical and commercial reception forThe Hard Wayin 2019 seems to be turning around. This could spell good news for its stars, who havehad somewhat uneven careers in the five years since the movie’s original release. This includes White and Couture’s co-star Luke Goss, who has only starred in two movies since 2021, namely the Dean Cain sci-fi thrillerOverrideand the Joan Collins holiday movieA Christmas Wish.
Luke Goss is best known for Prince Nuada and Nomak in the Guillermo del Toro sequelsHellboy II: The Golden ArmyandBlade IIrespectively.
Couture has also been largely unable to maintain a foothold in the past half a decade. His biggest roles since 2019 were on television, appearing in episodes of HBO’sBallersand CBS' since-cancelledNCIS: Los Angeles. What should have been a triumphant return to his hit big screen franchise, 2023’sExpendables 4, proved to be a commercial bomb as it onlyearned $51.1 million in theaters worldwide against a budget of $100 million, falling more than $150 million below the gross of the previous lowest-grossing installment, 2014’sThe Expendables 3.
9 Reasons The Expendables 4 Bombed At The Box Office Despite $800M Franchise History
Expend4bles had a terrible opening weekend and didn’t even reach number one at the box office, but the writing was on the wall for the fourquel.
Michael Jai White has had more success, having appeared in another recent Netflix hit,2024’sOne More Shot, in addition to roles in the television projectsKingdom BusinessandThe Family Business. However, both of the leads ofThe Hard Wayhave upcoming projects that could receive boosts from the Netflix success of the 2019 movie, putting them on a stronger footing. This includes the 2024 thrillerScream Before You Die, starring White and Ron Perlman, and the Randy Couture middle school heist movieF Plus.
