Dwayne Johnson’s The Rundown has become a surprise hit on Netflix 21 years later. Released in 2003, director Peter Berg’s The Rundown marks one of Johnson’s first major movie roles. The film sees the former WWE wrestler starring as Beck, a bounty hunter who teams up with the son of a powerful loan shark to seek out a legendary lost treasure in the Amazon. The movie, which also stars Seann William Scott, Rosario Dawson, and Christopher Walken, was a notable box office failure.
Now, new data from Netflix reveals that The Rundown was the eighth most popular movie on the service in the U.S. for the week of September 2 – 8. While exact viewership data isn’t provided, the Johnson movie beats 3:10 to Yuma (2007) and Trolls Band Together (2023). The Rundown falls short of other titles like Shark Tale (2004), The Union (2024), Migration (2023), Aloha (2015), Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), The Deliverance (2024), and, in the number one spot, Rebel Ridge (2024).
What The Rundown’s Streaming Success Means For The Film
Dwayne Johnson Is An Audience Draw
The Rundown reviews from critics were generally positive, and the film currently sports a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience response was more lukewarm, however, at only 66%. Made on an estimated budget of $85 million, the action adventure movie grossed only $80.6 million worldwide. Using the traditional Hollywood rule of thumb, The Rundown was likely looking at a break-even point of roughly $212 million, a goal it clearly fell far short of.
The Rundown‘s newfound success on Netflix probably doesn’t really help the film itself much at this stage of its life cycle, but it does speak to Johnson’s enduring popularity as a movie star. At the time of the film’s release, Johnson wasn’t the massive star and entertainment brand that he is today, but his stature in Hollywood and beyond has since grown immensely. Johnson’s face on The Rundown‘s tile on Netflix is evidently now enough to draw users’ attention.
The next major project Johnson is set to appear in is Christmas film Red One, which is due out on November 15, 2024. He’s also poised to reprise his voice role as Maui in the upcoming Moana 2, which hits theaters on November 27, 2024.
Our Take On The Rundown’s Netflix Success
The 2003 Film Is Easy To Watch
Johnson is one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and family-friendly action adventure films are largely responsible for his success. Many of his movies, including Red Notice (2021), Skyscraper (2018), Rampage (2018), and Snitch (2013), among others, may not be particularly memorable, but they’re easily consumable, and this can be a major factor when it comes to a movie’s success on streaming.
The Rundown knows how to take advantage of Johnson’s on-screen charm and physicality. The film also benefits from being from a very different era of his career, which could make it an exciting discovery for younger viewers. The Rundown may not be an awards-worthy film, but the result is evidently an easy way to spend one hour and 44 minutes, as the above data proves.
Source: Netflix
