While all the attention in recent weeks has been going to first A Minecraft Movie and then Sinners, a low-key thriller has quietly been climbing up the box office charts. The Amateur is now among the five highest-grossing Hollywood films of the year, but unlike Minecraft and Sinners, it could hardly be considered a sure bet. Starring Rami Malek in the lead role, The Amateur proves that thrillers aimed at older men — think the audience that tunes in to Reacher and Bosch — shouldn’t be restricted to streaming.
With The Accountant 2 offering direct competition this week, however, The Amateur might soon run out of steam. The movie has grossed $33 million domestically and another $46 million from overseas markets, for a cumulative total of $80 million worldwide. The Amateur was produced on a reported budget of $60 million, which means that it needs to gross at least around $120 million worldwide to break even. This isn’t going to happen. But theatrical runs are mere publicity tools for movies like The Amateur, which will continue to earn revenue over the years through a whole host of income streams, such as hotels and airplanes, besides the usual streaming and PVOD. If nothing else, the movie will certainly receive an optics-boost if it’s able to cross the coveted $100 million mark worldwide in the coming days. This would also re-establish Malek as a force to be reckoned with.
Directed by TV veteran James Hawes, The Amateur opened to mixed reviews, but an exceptional audience response. The film’s Rotten Tomatoes score appears to have settled at a borderline fresh 61%, but its audience score is sitting pretty at 88%. In his review, Collider’s Jeff Ewing described the movie “a little slower and more introspective than one might imagine, but strong performances and some well-executed (but occasionally logic-straining) plot twists and set-pieces elevate the film into something well worth seeing.”
Rami Malek Needed a Solo Win
The Amateur marks Malek’s first starring role since 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody, for which he won a Best Actor Oscar. Since then, he has played pivotal roles in Daniel Craig’s final James Bond movie No Time to Die, and Christopher Nolan’s Best Picture-winning biopic Oppenheimer. Also starring Rachel Brosnahan and Laurence Fishburne, The Amateur is playing in theaters now. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
