Entertainment
Chris Hemsworth’s Biggest Box Office Disaster Is Being Rewritten as a Streaming Hit
After hugely positive first responses arrived earlier this week, Chris Hemsworth fans look set for a huge treat when his new heist thriller Crime 101 debuts next week. Starring Hemsworth and his MCU mate Mark Ruffalo, Crime 101 is now one of the most anticipated movies of the month, with one critic calling it “the kind of classy heist thriller we don’t see much of these days,” and another saying it’s “slickly crafted, tightly written, and filled to the brim with compelling characters and a moody, immersive LA atmosphere.”
As fans wait for Hemsworth’s latest big hit, many are heading back into his catalog and checking out one of his most divisive movies: Blackhat. Directed by Michael Mann — whose magnum opus Heat is proving a popular point of comparison with the aforementioned Crime 101 — Blackhat stars Hemsworth alongside Oscar-winner Viola Davis, Tang Wei, and Mindhunter‘s Holt McCallany. Written by Morgan Davis Foehl, the film stars Hemsworth as convicted hacker Nick Hathaway, who is offered clemency to help hunt down a dangerous cybercriminal.
At the time of writing, Blackhat is one of the 10 most-streamed movies on HBO Max worldwide. The action thriller joins two of the Best Picture favorites at the upcoming Academy Awards in the current top ten, with Paul Thomas Anderson‘s masterpiece, One Battle After Another, in third and director Ryan Coogler‘s beloved vampire flick, Sinners, at the top of the charts. A synopsis for Blackhat reads:
“After a Hong Kong nuclear plant and the Mercantile Trade Exchange in Chicago are hacked by unknown perpetrators, a federal agent proposes that the FBI work with China to find the cyber-criminals. The leader of the Chinese team, Chen Dawai, insists that convicted hacker Nick Hathaway be released from prison to help with the investigation. As Nick and his comrades chase their quarry, it becomes evident that the hackers have a sinister motive for their actions.”
‘Blackhat’ Was a Huge Box Office Bomb
Against a reported production budget of $70 million, Blackhat‘s 2015 theatrical run was an enormous disaster as it bowed out with just $19.6 million worldwide. Split between a domestic haul of $8 million and a further $11.6 million from overseas markets, Blackhat hugely disappointed, no doubt thanks to consistently terrible critical reception. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the movie earned just 33% from critics, with the consensus reading, “Thematically timely but dramatically inert, Blackhat strands Chris Hemsworth in a muddled misfire from director Michael Mann.”
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- Release Date
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January 16, 2015
- Runtime
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133 minutes
- Director
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Michael Mann
- Writers
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Morgan Davis Foehl
- Producers
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Jon Jashni