Immediately, the streaming film is a well-established phenomenon. A contemporary analogue of the dreaded direct-to-video movie, streaming films are epitomized by, say, a Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy that takes over Prime Video. Or maybe Cameron Diaz’s first movie in 11 years which, whereas marred by horrible evaluations, nonetheless manages to dominate Netflix. So, an motion thriller from the second unit director of “Titanic?” That is absolutely bought Netflix written throughout it.
Curiously sufficient, nonetheless, “Renegades,” from filmmaker Steven Quale (“Last Vacation spot 5”), did get a theatrical launch again in 2017. It wasn’t in the US, but it surely was a theatrical launch nonetheless. Sadly, whenever you spend the equal of $77.5 million on a movie, you absolutely hope it is going to make greater than $1.5 million on the field workplace, even when it solely hits theaters in Germany and France. “Renegades” (also referred to as “American Renegades”) noticed a theatrical debut within the two European international locations again in 2017 and located its means stateside by way of a DVD and Blu-ray launch from Lionsgate. However it not solely did not make main cash, it was an outright essential failure; “calamity” is the one phrase I can consider that covers it.
So, what’s “Renegades” and why does everybody hate it? It is a movie written by Luc Besson and Richard Wenk a couple of crew of Navy SEALs that embark on a mission to retrieve stolen Nazi gold from a sunken metropolis on the backside of a lake. If that sounds just like the sort of bombastic actioner that is perhaps so dangerous it is good, check out its 11% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Hey, not less than it has J.Ok. Simmons in it for some cause.
However wait. Simply as “Renegades” was wanting just like the sort of movie that may by no means obtain any sort of mainstream recognition, a savior emerges to dredge up the ill-fated motion movie from the gloomy depths of obscurity. Yep, Netflix viewers are watching this factor in droves.
Renegades storms the Netflix charts
“Renegades” … do you actually wish to know the complete plot to this one? Past Nazi gold and Navy SEALs, there’s little or no else to cowl, however in case you like the thought of J.Ok. Simmons as a stern Admiral with a penchant for chastising his insubordinate troopers, it has that going for it. Nonetheless, 11% on Rotten Tomatoes … yikes.
However Netflix subscribers apparently cannot get sufficient of Steven Quale’s beforehand unseen movie. In keeping with FlixPatrol, a web site that tracks streaming viewership figures throughout the assorted platforms, the film has truly fared fairly effectively on Netflix, the place it is presently quantity three on the U.S. most-watched movie charts. On February 2, 2025, simply at some point after it debuted on the service, it entered the charts within the quantity two spot earlier than slipping all the way down to quantity three a day later. However that also signifies that, for a day, it outdid Ralph Fiennes’ delightfully depraved feast, “The Menu,” which on the time of this writing is the primary streaming film on Netflix in the US.
Will “Renegades” have the ability to battle its solution to the highest spot? Nicely, it will must defeat the inexplicably mighty “Again in Motion.” Cameron Diaz’s disappearance from Hollywood for 11 years was apparently sufficient to make sure her return can be a giant deal, and “Again in Motion” has now been dominating the Netflix charts for a pair weeks. It is presently quantity two on the U.S. rankings, which implies “Renegades” has its work minimize out for it. If the movie can overcome actually abysmal evaluations and the attract of Diaz to get the job achieved, although, it will likely be a small victory for Quale and no matter European distributor misplaced hundreds of thousands on his film — however a victory nonetheless.
