If there was ever a more obvious example of why studios don’t always invest in great projects, it’s the concurrent streaming success of two movies starring Rebecca Ferguson. The one released earlier received excellent reviews and grossed more than $700 million at the worldwide box office, while the second flopped commercially and was panned by critics. And yet, they are both among the most-watched movies in the world on their respective streaming platforms. The more recent of the two is the sci-fi mystery film Mercy, in which Ferguson plays an AI-powered judge who must determine if a cop accused of murdering his wife actually did it.
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov and headlined by Chris Pratt, Mercy holds a 25% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, and wasn’t able to recoup its reported $60 million budget during its theatrical run. However, it’s currently the number one movie on the global Prime Video charts, which suggests that audiences simply decided to wait for it to hit home video. But they rushed to the biggest screens available to watch Ferguson’s 2024 hit, which, according to FlixPatrol, is among the most-watched movies on the global HBO Max charts right now.
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Rebecca Ferguson Is Having a Major Year in Sci-Fi
The movie in question is Dune: Part Two, the lavish sequel to director Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune, which was released day-and-date in theaters and on HBO Max in 2021. Despite the controversial release, the first film grossed more than $400 million worldwide and earned a bunch of Oscar nominations. As if to make up for its mistake, Warner Bros. gave Dune: Part Two a massive theatrical release. The movie grossed $715 million worldwide against a reported budget of $190 million, and received more favorable reviews than its predecessor. It now holds a “Certified Fresh” 92% critics’ score and a “Verified Hot” 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “Visually thrilling and narratively epic, Dune: Part Two continues Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the beloved sci-fi series in spectacular form.” A third and final installment, Dune: Part Three, is slated for a December 2026 release, setting up a clash with Avengers: Doomsday. Ferguson will also return to lead the third season of her hit Apple TV sci-fi series Silo that same month. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
- Release Date
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February 27, 2024
- Runtime
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167 minutes
- Director
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Denis Villeneuve
- Writers
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Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, Frank Herbert
- Producers
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Herb Gains, John Harrison, Mary Parent, Patrick McCormick, Richard P. Rubinstein, Cale Boyter, Thomas Tull, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Joshua Grode, Tanya Lapointe
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