While we await the arrival of several high-profile projects starring former Superman Henry Cavill, including the long-awaited Highlander reboot and Amazon’s live-action Voltron movie, the actor has found some seriously surprising streaming success thanks to a largely forgotten (and savagely panned) action thriller. Well, it was forgotten, but based on its newfound popularity, it seems many at home have remembered.
Led by Cavill as a typically no-nonsense, rule-breaking detective on the hunt for a serial killer, the action thriller gives the actor ample opportunity to throw his weight around as he defies authority to get the job done. Abandoning his clean-cut Man of Steel look for something far more disheveled, the movie gives Cavill the chance to lead the kind of late-night thriller that doesn’t get made too often anymore…but clearly there’s a big appetite for.
The Panned Action Thriller Has Had a Massive Streaming Resurgence
The action thriller in question is Night Hunter, which centers on Cavill’s detective, a police profiler, played by Alexandra Daddario, and a mysterious vigilante, played by Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley, who become entangled in a dangerous scheme involving a troubled man linked to years of abductions and disappearances of women.
Written and directed by David Raymond, Night Hunter (also known as Nomis) was ruthlessly torn apart by critics at the time for its “contrived and cliched” approach to the crime thriller, resulting in a score of just 14% on Rotten Tomatoes and thus marking it forever with a dreaded green splat. The movie also bombed spectacularly at the box office after grossing just $1 million and was met with a divisive 50% from audiences on the Popcornmeter.
But clearly things have changed, with Night Hunter now climbing the charts on 
STARZ in the United States, on which it is now ranked #2 just behind Sydney Sweeney’s recent erotic thriller hit, The Housemaid. This comes following the continued global success that Night Hunter has found on Paramount+ globally, all of which suggests that audiences are either eager for more lean, mean 90-plus minute crime thrillers, or that they’re keen to watch Henry Cavill chase criminals in an action thriller. Perhaps both.
Henry Cavill Has Several Major Projects in the Pipeline at Last
For those who are keen for more Cavill, we have good news, as the actor is due to play major roles in several tentpole projects over the next few years. After walking away from The Witcher and hanging up his cape in the wake of James Gunn’s DCU reboot, Cavill is finally set to lead the long-awaited reimagining of Highlander from John Wick director Chad Stahelski. After years of waiting, the reimagining is now in production, courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios, with the first footage revealing a “John Wick with swords” action epic that sees Cavill going up against MCU veteran Dave Bautista as the villainous Kurgan.
Cavill will also reunite with The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare director Guy Ritchie, star Eiza González, and join forces with Jake Gyllenhaal for the upcoming action thriller In the Grey; star in Amazon’s live-action adaptation of the 1980s animated series Voltron; return as Sherlock Holmes alongside Millie Bobby Brown in the Netflix sequel, Enola Holmes 3; take the lead in Amazon’s Warhammer 40k series; and is rumored to reunite with Mission: Impossible co-star and Hollywood icon Tom Cruise for the war epic Broadsword.
- Release Date
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August 29, 2019
- Runtime
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95 minutes
- Writers
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David Raymond
- Producers
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Kevin Scott Frakes, Nadine de Barros, Larry Harding, Nasrat Muzayyin, Zorin Finkelsen, Francesca Dutton, James Lancaster, Mitesh Parikh, Niraj Parikh, Gaurav Talwar, Pulak Parikh, Rob Wood, Mark Catton, Rick Dugdale, Sundip K. Bhundia, Steven Ashley, Peter Aitken, James Milligan, Chris Pettit, Alastair Burlingham, Buddy Patrick, Robert Ogden Barnum, Dave Hansen, Tony Parker
