Henry Cavill’s $200M Action Movie Box Office Bomb ‘Argylle’ Is a Streaming Hit

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Henry Cavill, known for his role as Superman, has several exciting projects coming up, including a remake of Highlander, a live-action Voltron series for Amazon, and a new film with director Guy Ritchie called In the Grey. But before those arrive, one of his earlier films that didn’t perform well in theaters is now finding success as a streaming hit, climbing the global charts two years after it first came out.

Henry Cavill, once a strong contender for the James Bond role – he even auditioned for 2006’s Casino Royale – recently starred as a spy in the 2024 action film Argylle. Directed by Matthew Vaughn, who also directed Kingsman, and boasting a star-studded cast including Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, John Cena, Samuel L. Jackson, Ariana DeBose, Bryan Cranston, Dua Lipa, and the late Catherine O’Hara, Argylle unfortunately failed to impress both audiences and critics, resulting in a disappointing box office performance.

Despite receiving negative reviews from critics – earning a 33% score on Rotten Tomatoes and criticism for its complicated story, lengthy duration, and underperformance given its cast and budget – the movie Argylle is now performing well on streaming platforms. It’s currently a top 10 hit globally, alongside films like The Family Plan, The Family Plan 2, Highest 2 Lowest, Greyhound, The Gorge, and the popular Brad Pitt movie F1.

‘Argylle’ Is One of Several Major Box Office Bombs Starring Henry Cavill

The movie Argylle plays with the idea of fiction and reality in the spy genre, which has proven to be a bit controversial. It centers on Elly Conway, a successful but introverted author who prefers staying home with her cat and computer. However, Elly’s novels, featuring a spy named Argylle and his fight against a worldwide network of spies, start to strangely reflect actual events happening in the real world. This throws Elly into a dangerous adventure, and she discovers she might be more resourceful than she ever imagined.

As a movie fan, it’s always a bit sad to see a film underperform. While the action flick did okay with audiences – they seemed to enjoy it, giving it a 70% score on the Popcornmeter – the dark comedy really flopped. It only made $96.2 million worldwide and, reportedly, lost over $200 million for the studio. That unfortunately adds Argylle to the list of box office disappointments for Henry Cavill, joining films like The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. It probably didn’t help his chances of becoming the next James Bond, but honestly, it sounds like he’s already focused on other roles now.

An ‘Argylle’ Sequel & Prequel Are Part of the Plan

The poor performance of Argylle at the box office, combined with negative reviews, may have ended the potential franchise before it could really start. Director Matthew Vaughn had ideas for both a prequel and a sequel, and the first movie hinted at these possibilities while also introducing Louis Partridge as a younger version of the character Aubrey Argylle. Given that streaming success is now reviving old franchises, there’s still a small chance these projects could happen, though it’s uncertain.

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2026-04-08 19:18