Guy Ritchie’s 123-Minute War Epic Officially Finds a New Streaming Home
Guy Ritchie's 2022 military thriller 'The Covenant,' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Antony Starr, has secured a streaming home on Hulu following its disappointing theatrical release. The film recouped merely $21 million at cinemas against its $55 million production investment, making it one of several Ritchie projects to underperform in traditional movie markets.
The transition to streaming has appeared to generate renewed interest, with the film charting in the top ten for video-on-demand rentals across Apple TV and Google Play in several countries. Audience reception metrics paint a starkly different picture from the theatrical performance, with viewers awarding the film a 98 percent rating whilst critics gave it 82 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, suggesting the project may resonate more effectively in home viewing contexts.
- Guy Ritchie's 2022 war film 'The Covenant' debuts on Hulu after flopping theatrically with only $21 million in box office earnings against its $55 million budget
- Despite commercial failure, the film earned strong audience ratings (98% on Rotten Tomatoes) and has entered streaming VOD top 10 charts in multiple countries globally
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The Covenant is a 2022 war thriller directed by Guy Ritchie, best known for British crime films like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a US Army sergeant and Antony Starr, and follows a soldier's efforts to repay an Afghan interpreter who saved his life during the war in Afghanistan.
When it came out, the film struggled at the box office, earning around $21 million against a $55 million budget, making it a financial loss in cinemas. It has since become available to stream, joining a run of Ritchie projects that have fared better with home audiences than they did in theatres.
This pattern, of a costly film flopping at the cinema but finding a bigger audience once it reaches streaming platforms, has become increasingly common and is often discussed in the industry as a sign of how people's viewing habits are shifting away from cinemas towards on-demand services.