Gerard Butler starred in the highest-grossing movie of his career — the live-action How to Train Your Dragon remake — only last year, but he has had an uneven run at the box office ever since. Earlier this year, he headlined Greenland 2: Migration, which grossed only $45 million worldwide against a reported budget of $90 million. He also appeared in the star-studded Netflix drama In the Hand of Dante, a critically panned festival movie that was quietly released on the streamer some weeks ago. Even though he hasn’t headlined a box-office hit in a while, Butler is known to attract large audiences at home. This is among the key reasons why sequels to Greenland and Den of Thieves were green-lit in the first place. Not to mention the multiple Has Fallen movies that he has starred in. Now, one of his earliest vehicles as an action star is streaming for free.
The movie in question debuted theatrically in 2009, just a few years after Butler became a household name thanks to 300 and P.S. I Love You. The 2009 film takes place in a dystopian future not unlike the one we saw in Ready Player One, but instead of humans living as digital avatars in a virtual world, it follows actual people who are controlled by others in an online game. It’s like The Hunger Games, if Katniss were being controlled by another person. The movie also involved a time-loop plot reminiscent of Edge of Tomorrow, where Butler’s character is made to navigate a “map” over and over until he wins.
Here’s Where You Can Watch Gerard Butler’s Dystopian Action Movie
The movie in question is Gamer, directed by the filmmaker duo Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. The movie also featured Logan Lerman, Ludacris, Terry Crews, John Leguizamo, and Michael C. Hall. It fell short of box-office expectations, grossing around $42 million worldwide against a reported budget of $50 million. Gamer was critically panned; it now holds a 29% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “With all of the hyperkinetic action and none of the flair of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor’s earlier work, Gamer has little replay value.” You can watch Gamer for free this month on Tubi, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
- Release Date
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September 3, 2009
- Runtime
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95 minutes
- Director
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Brian Taylor










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