The World War II genre of movies has produced some all-time classics over the years, like Saving Private Ryan. Steven Spielberg directed the 1999 film, which stars Tom Hanks, a duo who reunited just a few years ago for a new WWII project, Masters of the Air. There have also been more unconventional takes on the WWII movie over the years, including just a few years ago with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The film is much more of a legal drama/thriller than a traditional war/action movie, but it still fits into the category of a World War II movie, given the time period it’s set in. Oppenheimer also wasn’t the first WWII movie Nolan directed — he first worked on Dunkirk nearly 10 years ago, which stars Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy.
One of the most underrated entries in the World War II genre came in 2019 with Midway. The epic historical film tells the story of the Battle of Midway, both through the pilots in the air who fought in the battle and the suits behind the scenes who planned the soldiers’ every move. The film features a star-studded ensemble led by Ed Skrein, Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson, Dennis Quaid, Luke Evans, and even Aaron Eckhart, but it grossed only $127 million at the global box office against a $100 million budget. It earned a Rotten 42% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but a Verified Hot 92% on the audience-driven Popcornmeter. After flopping at the box office, Midway recently found success streaming for free on Tubi at the end of last month. The film has since left the platform and is now available to watch exclusively on Prime Video.
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Why Did ‘Midway’ Fail at the Box Office?
While it’s easy to look at Midway grossing $27 million over its budget and assuming that the film was a success, it needed over $200 million just to break even. Studios generally split ticket sales 50/50 with movie theaters, meaning Lionsgate only got back about $63 million from the ticket sales alone for Midway, and this doesn’t even include what the studio spent on marketing. Many felt the film underperformed at the box office due to the lack of a true A-list star. The closest it came was Woody Harrelson, who has a checkered history of box office success.
Check out Midway on Prime Video and stay tuned to Collider for more streaming updates and coverage of future WWII movies.
- Release Date
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November 8, 2019
- Runtime
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138 minutes
- Director
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Roland Emmerich
- Writers
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Wes Tooke