Even if Chris Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ opens in July or August, Chris Hemsworth’s ‘Extraction’ could be the summer’s only event movie for adults.
Even if Chris Nolan’s Tenet opens in July or August, Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction could be the summer’s only event movie for adults.
With the obvious disclaimer that one should take Netflix’s own “Our new movie or TV show is a huge hit!” with a grain of salt, they are currently boasting that Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction, which debuted on April 24, is on track to nab 90 million households in its first month of availability. If that comes to pass, it’ll be Netflix’s biggest launch ever. That would be a larger viewership than Michael Bay’s 6 Underground (83 million), Sandra Bullock’s Bird Box (80 million), the first season of Henry Cavill’s The Witcher (76 million) and the Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy Murder Mystery (73 million).
Of course, they now count a “viewing” as someone who watched even two minutes of a given episode or movie, as opposed to 70% (which was allegedly detrimental to the 3.5-hour-likes of The Irishman). But frankly the large viewership numbers make sense. Extraction is both a very good action movie and one of the first attempts at a Hollywood blockbuster that actually feels like a Hollywood blockbuster. Produced by the Russo Brothers and helmed by stunt choreographer and second-unit director Sam Hargave, the Chris Hemsworth action spectacular stars the once-and-future Thor as a disillusioned and borderline suicidal mercenary who kills his way across Bangladash for the sake of a kidnapped young boy.
Unlike a lot of Netflix movies from a lot of really talented filmmakers (Michael Bay’s 6 Underground, Duncan Jones’ Mute, Dan Gilroy’s Velvet Buzzsaw, Dee Rees’ The Last Thing She Wanted, etc.
