Henry Cavill’s Disappointing Box Office Streak Highlights A Huge Challenge For Reboot Of 38-Year-Old Franchise
Summary
- Despite past successes in blockbuster films, Henry Cavill’s recent box office numbers have been disappointing.
- Both “Argylle” and “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” have underperformed financially.
- The upcoming Highlander reboot starring Cavill might face challenges at the box office given his recent trend of disappointing returns.
Henry Cavill has a big franchise reboot coming up, but based on his recent box office numbers, it may be in some trouble. Though widely loved and celebrated, the actor’s last few films haven’t brought in as much money as he might have hoped. In fact, the last time Cavill had a theatrical release that performed exceptionally well was back in 2018. Though the star has had a variety of other successful endeavors, the projects hitting theaters in recent years just haven’t been cutting it. Unfortuantely, this makes the promise of a Highlander movie reboot a little more concerning.
Cavill’s filmography stretches back to 2002 when he debuted in The Count of Monte Cristo. This film performed moderately at the box office, and so did his next half-dozen films through to 2012. 2007’s Stardust was Cavill’s first film to break $100 million globally, and 2011’s Immortals set a new milestone for the actor when it made $212 million at the global box office. It wasn’t until Man of Steel that Cavill could tote himself a blockbuster actor, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) remains the closest he has come to the billion-dollar club. Unfortunately, he seems to have hit a downward trend.
Argylle Features A Hidden Reunion For Henry Cavill’s 4-Year-Old Movie Franchise On Netflix
Henry Cavill stars in the spy comedy Argylle, a movie that sneakily features a reunion between Cavill and his co-star from his Netflix franchise.
Henry Cavill’s Recent Movies Have Struggled At The Box Office
Argylle & The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Both Underperformed
Though Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) was another successful movie for Cavill, bringing in $787 million worldwide, he hasn’t seen anything near this level of financial success since. Black Adam (2022), Cavill’s last appearance as Superman, only made $390 million worldwide, which is relatively low compared to his other DC endeavors. Then 2024’s Argylle, released February 2, made a massively disappointing $96 million at the global box office. This return was incredibly frustrating, considering the hype leading up to the film’s release and the rumored $200 million budget.
Now, Cavill’s bad box-office luck seems to have continued with The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, released on April 19, 2024, to US theaters only. Of course, this detail makes this most recent Cavill film a little harder to compare to its predecessors. However, a look into its first week in theaters shows that Ungentlemanly Warfare only made about $12 million. Even for the domestic box office, that is pretty disappointing.
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Henry Cavill’s Recent Box Office Performance |
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|---|---|
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Movie Title (Date) |
Box Office Gross |
|
Black Adam (2022) |
$390 million worldwide |
|
Argylle (2024) |
$96 million worldwide |
|
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) |
$12 million (first week) domestic |
Henry Cavill’s Highlander Reboot Could Be A Tough Sell
Highlander Could Struggle Even More At The Box Office
Cavill’s recent box office numbers cast quite a shadow on another anticipated theatrical release. The actor is currently working on a Highlander reboot movie, which would return to the fantasy franchise that got its start in 1986. This world is full of intriguing mythology, exciting sword fights, and phenomenal world-building, and the idea of a reboot featuring Cavill—who proved himself a friend to fantasy in Netflix’s The Witcher— is undoubtedly exciting, but these numbers cast some doubt.
After Cavill’s disappointing The Witcher exit, fantasy audiences might be jaded against starting a new journey with the actor.
If spy adventures and action comedies like Argylle and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare aren’t enough to pull audiences to the theaters, Highlander might not do it either. Though the franchise is deeply loved by its diehard fans, it’s not so well known that it would have a guaranteed large audience. Additionally, after Cavill’s disappointing The Witcher exit, fantasy audiences might be jaded against starting a new journey with the actor. Of course, it only takes one movie to turn things around, and Highlander could be it. But given Henry Cavill‘s recent trend, chances aren’t looking great.
Highlander (Reboot)
Highlander is a reboot of the 1986 movie that starred Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery. The reboot is directed by Chad Stahelski and stars Henry Cavill as Connor MacLeod.
