Chris Hemsworth’s Flop Marvel-Reunion Action Crime Thriller Is Getting a Second Shot at Success on Streaming

In the last several years, Hollywood has gone through numerous changes and many tough times when it comes to keeping audiences engaged and turning up to theaters. Although there have been some surprise success stories, such as Curry Barker’s phenomenal hit Obsession, there have been many more box office disappointments that have had to find their redemption elsewhere. One such movie that seemed destined to be a sure-fire hit but instead couldn’t even earn back its $90 million budget when it was released back in February was Chris Hemsworth‘s highly-praised action thriller, Crime 101. Despite being packed full of star power, with Hemsworth being joined by his MCU co-star Mark Ruffalo and another one-time Marvel regular in Halle Berry, as well as DC’s latest Joker, Barry Keoghan, the film did not land well in theaters, earning just $72.9 million during its initial run.

Not too long afterwards, Crime 101 was released on Prime Video, briefly hitting the number one spot on the streamer’s global chart but failing to stick around at the top for too long. Subsequently, the movie disappeared into the regular lists of films available to those browsing through Prime’s extensive library. Yet, as has become the case with many movie releases of the post-COVID-19 era, Crime 101 is now getting a second chance at success and has made the most of it. According to data from Prime Video’s weekly chart updates, Crime 101 was the 10th most watched movie on the platform between September 14 and September 20, not a bad achievement for a movie released over six months ago. This has become an ongoing trend among movies that, despite packing big name stars in their cast lists, seem to be unable to entice people to part with the price of a cinema ticket.

Chris Hemsworth Brings His Marvel Pedigree to Crime 101

Over the last two decades, Chris Hemsworth has proven himself to be a solid and popular lead for any movie, no matter what the genre or who he appears alongside. Crime 101 is based on the 2020 novella by Don Winslow and was written and directed by Bart Layton, a multi-award winner who lacked that big memorable hit movie. The story sees Hemsworth’s jewel thief executing a number of elaborate heists while staying one step ahead of the dogged detective (Ruffalo) attempting to track him down in a twisting game of cat and mouse. Things take a turn with the introduction of Berry as an insurance broker drawn into the action via a high-stakes diamond theft orchestrated by Hemsworth, which leads to a series to riveting double-crosses and twists that keep audiences guessing about just who will get away and what they will get away with.

Naturally, the casting choice of re-pairing Hemsworth and Ruffalo in a very different scenario to their 2017 collaboration on the MCU’s Thor Ragnarok and subsequent appearances in two Avengers movies, is one that was used to its full potential by the film’s marketing and throwing in former X-Men star Berry didn’t hurt either. Crime 101 faired well with critics and audiences, gaining a strong 88% score from the former and 83% from the latter. Yet none of that could bring audiences into theaters in the numbers required to help the movie avoid being a box office flop. However, action movies are one of the most popular genres on streaming, new releases and forgotten nostalgic hits alike, and even months after its release, Crime 101 is continuing to find an audience in those who missed it the first time around. Hemsworth will soon lead the Avengers into Doomsday, but in the meantime there are clearly worse things to do than revisit this genre classic of the future while it is available on Prime Video.

Have you slept on Crime 101, or are you one of those just discovering it for the first time? Let us know in the comments.