A lavish fantasy adventure that stumbled at the box office is getting another shot with viewers. Netflix audiences in the U.S. are now revisiting the Matt Damon-led monster spectacle, proving that a rough theatrical run does not always end a movie’s life.
The Great Wall finds new audience on Netflix
The renewed interest comes as The Great Wall reaches No. 10 on Netflix’s U.S. movie chart, according to FlixPatrol. The 2016 film currently sits alongside titles including The Dating App Killer: The Monica White Story, Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Its streaming resurgence gives the ambitious project a fresh audience nearly a decade after release.
Directed by Zhang Yimou, the movie sends European mercenaries William and Tovar, played by Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal, into ancient China while searching for gunpowder. Their plans collapse when they encounter a secret Chinese military force defending the Great Wall against a monstrous species. Jing Tian, Willem Dafoe, and Andy Lau also headline the ensemble.
Legendary Pictures, Legendary East, Atlas Entertainment, China Film Group and Le Vision Pictures backed the production, with Universal Pictures handling its U.S. theatrical release. Jon Jashni, Peter Loehr, Charles Roven, and Thomas Tull served among the producers. The enormous $150 million production ultimately collected about $334.9 million worldwide, including roughly $45.5 million domestically.
However, the film became a box-office disappointment and was widely regarded as a bomb because its global haul failed to justify the production and marketing costs. Critics also remained unconvinced. Rotten Tomatoes currently lists it at 36%, while IMDb gives the movie 5.9/10.
However, the film might work on streaming. It delivers huge battles, colorful military designs, supernatural creatures, and Zhang’s striking visual style without asking viewers to treat it as anything more than a big, pulpy monster adventure. That spectacle, plus Damon, Pascal and a premise built around one of the world’s most recognizable landmarks, could explain why Netflix viewers are giving this old underperformer another look.
