Paul Bettany's Religious Horror Movie Is Making A Mark On Tubi's Charts
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15 years after it became a modest hit in theaters, "Legion" is finding new life on streaming. Not to be confused with the FX TV series of the same name, based in the world of Marvel Comics, we're talking about the movie starring Paul Bettany, known best for his work as Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But before he became the Vision, he was an actor with an interesting resume, including big hits like "A Beautiful Mind" and "The Da Vinci Code." Yet, for whatever reason, this movie is gaining traction right now.
As of this writing, director Scott Stewart's 2010 religious action/horror flick "Legion" is sitting at number seven on Tubi's most-watched movie charts, per FlixPatrol. It's just ahead of Mark Wahlberg's action flick "Mile 22" and just below the Tubi Original "Rhythm and Blood." Tyler Perry's "Madea's Big Happy Family" is at number one, for what it's worth. In any case, thanks to the most popular free streaming service in the game (not counting YouTube), this not particularly well-regarded film is inexplicably having something of a resurgence.
The film mostly takes place at a remote desert truck stop where, against all odds, the fate of the world will be decided. United by the Archangel Michael (Paul Bettany), a group of strangers become unwitting soldiers on the frontlines of the Apocalypse. As evil's armies amass outside, this rag-tag group must help to protect a waitress and her unborn child at all costs. It's not altogether unlike 1995's "Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight" or "From Dusk Till Dawn," given its premise, but it couldn't be more different in execution.
Legion has somehow built a bigger audience in the last 15 years
Critics, at the time, were far from kind to "Legion," as it currently holds a lousy 20% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This, despite its impressive cast which, in addition to Bettany, also includes the likes of Kevin Durand ("3:10 to Yuma"), Lucas Black ("The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift"), Tyrese Gibson ("2 Fast, 2 Furious"), Adrianne Palicki ("Friday Night Lights"), and Dennis Quaid ("The Day After Tomorrow"), among others. Certain religious groups also weren't big fans of the movie at the time, with TCU 360 calling it "a slap in the face to Christianity."
"What if God decides that he's lost faith in man? We always talk about having to have faith in God, but what happens if it happens in reverse?" Stewart explained to /Film of the premise for "Legion" back in 2009. "God loses faith in man and says 'do it over?' This is our approach to that." The director also said at the time that casting Bettany helped set the tone for the movie.
"Casting Paul kind of drew a line in the sand and said we're going to treat this really seriously. We have a fun movie, and it's a roller coaster ride, but it has some heavy themes, and I do take it really seriously and want the acting to be great in it."
Critics be damned, people seem to be gravitating towards the movie now. This tends to happen in the world of streaming though, where an average studio movie can become a hit out of nowhere. Gerard Butler's "Geostorm," a massive flop, became a hit on Netflix recently. Stuff like this happens all the time. The difference, in this case, is that "Legion" ($68 million box office/$26 million budget) was a moderate hit in its day. Be it through rewatches or random new discoveries, it's getting another day in the sun.