John Cena has played a soldier, a superhero, and a spy, and his latest movie has just taken over Apple TV. Critics have been brutal about Matchbox: The Movie, yet viewers around the world have pushed it past some of the platform’s biggest hits in a matter of days.
How Matchbox The Movie Beat Mayday and F1 to the Top Apple TV Charts
According to FlixPatrol’s Apple TV global rankings, Matchbox The Movie is now the most-watched movie on Apple TV worldwide, with 1,033 points on October 12. That leaves Ryan Reynolds’ Mayday in second place at 802, with the K2 climbing documentary and Brad Pitt‘s F1 also trailing behind.
Directed by Sam Hargrave of Extraction fame, the 126-minute film follows Sean (John Cena), the long-absent leader of a childhood friend group. He returns to his small town as an undercover CIA agent and drags his old friends into a globe-trotting race to save the world. Jessica Biel, Sam Richardson, and Danai Gurira round out the cast.
The film premiered on October 9, so it took only a few days to reach the top, marking an impressive feat. But the reviews and the numbers could not be further apart.
The film sits at 25% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 28 critics’ reviews as of writing, and several reviewers have compared it unfavorably to the Fast & Furious franchise. ScreenRant’s Alex Harrison, who rated it five out of ten, pointed to the film’s handling of the toy brand as its biggest problem:
“Matchbox: The Movie has a fun action comedy premise to work with, but its aggressive approach to its toy brand IP essentially sinks it,” he wrote.
Mattel’s film push has had mixed results so far. After Barbie, the toy giant released Masters of the Universe earlier this year, which earned a 68% critics’ score but only $113.7 million globally against a production budget of $170-200 million. Matchbox The Movie has now topped Apple TV’s chart within days of its debut, giving Mattel a clear win on viewership even with poor reviews.
The result also fits Apple TV’s growing action lineup, which already includes The Gorge, Wolfs, Ghosted, The Family Plan, and Mayday. The next test for Matchbox The Movie is whether it can hold the top spot once its opening weekend buzz fades.
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