There’s not always a rhyme or reason to what movies become streaming hits on Netflix. Sometimes a big new movie hits the streamer and immediately finds itself on the daily Top 10 charts, which makes sense. There are also big surprises on that list, like when a big bust or largely forgettable movie suddenly start lighting up the Netflix charts. Whether it’s because the film has a popular actor or the negative buzz was so great that people have some type of morbid curiosity, there are some random movies that find a miraculous second life on Netflix.
One such film has been charting on the streaming service for several days now, despite the fact that it was one of the worst reviewed fantasy movies of the last decade. If you’ve peeked at the Netflix Top 10 Movies list at any point over the past week, you probably know that the movie we’re talking about here is The Last Witch Hunter.
An infamous misfire from 2015, The Last Witch Hunter stands as one of the worst movies of Vin Diesel’s career — which is certainly saying something. It currently holds just an 18% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and a measly 44% from audiences. The only titles from Diesel’s filmography with lower scores are Babylon A.D. and A Man Apart, though the latter actually holds a positive total with audiences.
The Last Witch Hunter was recently added to Netflix and, for some reason, it has become a seriously popular title on the service. The film has lingered around the Netflix Top 10 Movies list for several days now. Monday’s edition of the list has The Last Witch Hunter as the sixth most popular movie on Netflix in the United States.
For those unfamiliar, The Last Witch Hunter is a fantasy/horror movie about a knight named Kaulder who kills the witch responsible for the Black Plague and is in turn cursed with eternal life. Played by Diesel, Kaulder now exists in the modern day and is still hunting down witches that “break the laws” of the truce between them and humankind. It’s an over-the-top premise that could work in the right circumstances, but this movie certainly didn’t hit the marks it needed to in order to achieve any level of campy fun.
The film made just over $146 million at the box office, which is far from a total failure, but a budget that reportedly reached $90 million, it’s safe to assume The Last Witch Hunter didn’t make its production and advertising bills back during its theatrical run.
Even with little-to-no box office success and terrible reviews, Diesel has publicly said that there is actually a sequel in development. Then again, Vin Diesel has said a lot of things about movies he wants to make over the years, so this feels like a real “believe it when you see it” type of scenario.
Whether or not a sequel happens will remain to be seen, but that movie can only be helped by the fact that The Last Witch Hunter is finding a substantial audience on Netflix. It’ll be interesting to watch and see just how long the infamous fantasy outing can hang around Netflix’s movie ranks.
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