Despite bombing at the box office with less than $2 million in revenue, Joe Bell has dominated Amazon Prime this week, according to FlixPatrol.
The movie was slammed by critics who gave it a measly 40% on Rotten Tomatoes, despite a more favorable take from audiences with a 73% rating. This isn’t the first time one of Mark Wahlberg’s films has scored poorly only to find success online, with one of Wahlberg’s worst movies dominating streaming.
Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, Joe Bell follows a small town working class father who embarks on a solo walk across the United States to crusade against bullying after his son is tormented at school for being gay. Based on a true story, the film had the potential to do well but it failed to execute in some aspects.
Green later directed King Richard which also struggled at the box office, making just over half of its estimated budget. The film couldn’t even be saved by a standout performance by Will Smith, with viewers predicting he will take home the Oscar for Best Actor.
Wahlberg has made some great films throughout his career, such as The Departed and The Fighter, the latter of which was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in 2011. But after turning 50 this year, it’s possible he is getting tired and has decided to churn out whatever movies he can.
It seems if Wahlberg stars in a movie as of late it is probably a good move to stay away with so many of his recent films turning out to be flops. After Joe Bell, he starred in the Paramount Plus film Infinite which scored atrociously on Rotten Tomatoes with only 16%.