Road House Remake Becomes Most-Watched Film Debut on Prime Video
The Road House remake has made history!
The action flick clocked in a record-breaking 50 million views over its first two weekends on Prime, the multinational company announced Monday on X.
“The groundbreaking, successful debut of Road House is a testament to the hard work and commitment from the entire Road House filmmaking team and the film’s cast led by the phenomenal Jake Gyllenhaal,” MGM Studios’ head, Jennifer Salke, said in a statement.
“The world is absolutely loving this entertaining, action-packed ride anchored by the performances of Jake, Conor McGregor, Daniela Melchior, Darren Barnet, Billy Magnussen, Jessica Williams, Lukas Gage, Arturo Castro, JD Pardo, and the rest of our stellar cast.”
The head of Amazon Studios continued, “It’s great to see the film taking off with both fans of the iconic original as well as a huge turnout from new audiences. This incredible film is really giving everyone something to talk about, and we couldn’t be more proud!”
Road House is a remake of the 1989 Patrick Swayze-led cult classic of the same name.
The action feature stars Gyllenhall as Elwood Dalton, an ex-UFC fighter who is hired as a bouncer to guard a roadhouse in the Florida Keys. He comes into conflict with a wealthy developer (Billy Magnussen) who won’t take no for an answer. One of the real estate developer’s schemes is taking over the bar.
The legendary Conor McGregor makes his acting debut in this thriller as the hired muscle known as Knox. As an antagonist to Dalton, McGregor delivered an over-the-top performance.
The Irish mixed martial artist and professional boxer was particularly thrilled over the accomplishment. “50 million viewers over two weekends,” McGregor said. “That’s $750 million at the box office. In 10 days! Insane! Congrats to all the team, it was a pleasure.”
Written by Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry, Amazon’s most-watched original film opened at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX, in March.
It received rave reviews, but that’s not to say the premier had a smooth start.
In a scathing Deadline guest column, Director Doug Liman took a hit at Amazon. He claimed, “Contrary to their public statements, Amazon has no interest in supporting cinemas.”
This comes as Amazon streams Road House exclusively on Prime Video instead of giving it a theatrical release. “And they deprive Jake Gyllenhaal—who gives a career-best performance—the opportunity to be recognized come award season.”
Liman, who has Swingers (1996), The Bourne Identity (2002), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), and Edge of Tomorrow (2014) under his belt, had originally planned to boycott the SXSW premiere as a means of protest. But, he made a surprise entrance to support the team.
The reactions around the modern reimagining have so far been mixed.
While nostalgia, faithfulness to the original movie, energy, wit, and cheesy humor are making it popular with the masses and have given it a better rating than its 1989 predecessor on Rotten Tomatoes, many claim that it’s flat and personality-free.
So, should you watch it? We’ll let you be the judge of that.
