Netflix Cuts Dwayne Johnson Flop From Its Collection
Netflix and Dwayne Johnson movies have been a winning tag team in the past. But now, the streaming giant is looking to cut ties with one of the actor’s biggest box-office flops.
The changes in Netflix’s collection of Dwayne Johnson movies come at the same time he dodges questions about his reputation and professionalism. Johnson and Netflix have a history together, but it could be clouded by Johnson’s flailing reputation.
Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Skyscraper’ leaves Netflix on May 31
Netflix revealed that it will drop Skyscraper from its catalog on May 31. The 2018 action thriller managed to find a second life on Netflix despite being a box-office disaster upon its release.
Skyscraper towered over the Netflix top 10 trending movies as far back as 2020. More recently, it landed back among the streamer’s most popular movies in early April 2024.
But that will all change at the end of the month. Skyscraper will no longer be available to stream on Netflix beginning May 31.
‘Skyscraper’ suffered poor reviews and a weak box-office return
The success of Skyscraper on Netflix has added some revisionist history to the film. However, it’s worth noting that viewers are typically more likely to give a so-so movie a shot at home as opposed to shelling out hard-earned money to see it in theaters.
That seems to be the case with Skyscraper. Critics dismissed the Dwayne Johnson movie as a weaker imitation of Die Hard and The Towering Inferno. Like most Johnson films, it didn’t reinvent the genre or push its leading man beyond his comfort zone on screen.
Skyscraper pulled in a worldwide box office return of $305 million. An unoriginal plot and Dwayne Johnson fatigue likely contributed to the lower-that-expected earnings.
Dwayne Johnson’s last Netflix movie had a rocky production
A bombshell story from TheWrap has cast a shadow over Dwayne Johnson and Netflix’s previous collaboration. According to sources, the production of Red Notice suffered setbacks and in-fighting due to Johnson’s tardiness.
The story reported that Johnson’s apparent refusal to work more than a handful of hours each day caused problems on Red Notice. The Netflix original co-starred Ryan Reynolds, who reportedly got in an explosive fight with Johnson over his professionalism.
Red Notice became Netflix’s most-watched movie thanks to the collective star power of Johnson, Reynolds, and Gal Gadot. Plans for sequels immediately followed. However, no solid updates have come since the movie’s 2021 release. Sources for TheWrap claim Johnson and Reynolds have patched things up. But it’s unclear if it’s enough to get Red Notice 2 and Dwayne Johnson’s Netflix future back on track.
