Shortly after Deadpool blew away the competition in 2016, Ryan Reynolds appeared in another feature film just two months later which also starred Kevin Costner that’s largely been forgotten about over the years, until now. Titled Criminal, the sci-fi thriller has found a new streaming home that’s sure to bring some eyeballs to the Ariel Vromen-led production that was a box office flop eight years ago, earning just $38 million against its budget of $31 million.
Written by David Cook and David Weisberg, both of whom worked together on the Sean Connery classic action-thriller The Rock, Criminal features an all-star cast composed of not only Reynolds and Costner, but Gary Oldman, Gal Gadot, and Tommy Lee Jones as well. Unfortunately, its stacked roster wasn’t enough to draw audiences into theaters at the time, as Criminal finished in sixth place on its opening weekend behind the likes of Disney’s live-action remake of The Jungle Book, and Ice Cube’s Barbershop: The Next Cut. Critics were not kind to the film, either, as it currently holds just a 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Criminal lands on its new streaming of Max on September 1, and you can check out the synopsis below.
“CIA agent Bill Pope (Ryan Reynolds) dies while traveling to a secret location to meet a hacker who can launch missiles at will. Desperate to find his whereabouts, officials turn to an experimental neurosurgeon who can transfer memories from one brain to another. The guinea pig for the procedure is Jerico Stewart (Kevin Costner), a violent and dangerous death-row inmate. Now gifted with Pope’s skills and knowledge, Stewart must race against time to stop a sinister international conspiracy.”
Ryan Reynolds & Kevin Coster’s 2024 Couldn’t Be More Different
Despite Criminal’s lackluster performance at the box office in 2016, Reynold’s career has continued to skyrocket. Two years later, he’d reprise the role of the Merc with a Mouth in Deadpool 2, which earned $785 million at the box office, $3 million more than the first outing. He’s at it again this year with Deadpool & Wolverine, which has quickly become the second highest-grossing film of the year behind Inside Out 2, and the highest-grossing R-rated film in history. Since its release a little over a month ago, the superhero pairing has managed to dominate the box office, earning $1.2 billion thus far.
Costner hasn’t been so lucky in 2024, as there were high hopes for Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, which unfortunately became a box office dud, earning even less than Criminal did in 2016 with a worldwide take of $34 million against its budget of $50 million, which was largely financed by the star himself. Thankfully, the Western epic has managed to find new life on streaming recently, and while the future of the Horizon saga remains in question, Costner is still hoping he’ll get a chance to finish his magnum opus.
Criminal joins a slew of other titles joining Max this month, including Everything Everywhere All at Once, Boogie Nights, The Exorcist, and Shrek Forever After. You can check out the Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Coster film when it begins streaming on September 1. Check out the trailer below.
