Dave Bautista’s New Action Movie Becomes Prime Video’s #1 Film (& Another Is Still Top 5)

Dave Bautista has moved on from playing Drax in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he remains as active as ever. As fans wait to see if the actor will reunite with James Gunn in the DC Universe, Bautista has turned his attention to making a variety of action movies, utilizing his signature blend of brawn and screen presence to entertain viewers. He has a new film out on Prime Video this week, The Wrecking Crew, in which he teams up with fellow comic book movie star Jason Momoa for a fun buddy action comedy flick. It hit streaming on January 28th, and it’s already a big hit.

According to FlixPatrol, which measures the popularity of titles on various streaming services, The Wrecking Crew is the No. 1 film on Prime Video right now. Based on the metrics, it has a sizable lead over the likes of Ballerina and The Tank for the top spot. What’s more is that there’s another Amazon original starring Bautista doing well on Prime. Trap House is currently the No. 5 movie on the charts, edging out A Working Man.

Why Dave Bautista’s Action Movies Are Big Hits on Prime

While direct-to-streaming action movies can be fun ways to pass the time, they don’t really have the reputation of being critical darlings. One only has to look at the aforementioned Trap House (52% on Rotten Tomatoes) for proof. However, The Wrecking Crew emerged as a pleasantly surprising exception to that rule. It scored largely positive reviews, and as of this writing, it has an 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The general consensus is that The Wrecking Crew doesn’t reinvent the wheel in terms of genre entertainment, but the chemistry between Bautista and Momoa elevates the movie.

So, not only are there recognizable names on the top of the poster, the word of mouth indicates The Wrecking Crew is time well spent. Because of that reception, Prime subscribers are making a point to check the film out to see what all the buzz is about. It wouldn’t be surprising if The Wrecking Crew stayed on the top of Prime’s charts throughout the month of February. If the reviews had been negative, it still would have done well at the start, but likely would have fallen off quickly. As long as it connects with audiences, it’ll remain a popular title — especially since there isn’t much of note for action fans to see in theaters right now.

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The success of The Wrecking Crew and Trap House are likely intertwined. As subscribers geared up for the former’s debut, the latter would have been a fun one to watch given the Bautista connection. The Wrecking Crew has only been on streaming for a couple of days, but it’s also possible people turned its release date into a Bautista marathon and decided to watch both back to back. Based on Prime’s movie chart, action films seem to be a favorite for that subscriber base, so one starring a famous and beloved actor definitely have their appeal.

Bautista seems poised to become one of the faces of Prime Video’s movie library moving forward. In addition to Trap House and The Wrecking Crew, he has a couple of other Amazon productions upcoming, including the Highlander reboot and Road House 2. Those films should do well on Prime when they become available on streaming, adding more hits to Bautista’s resume. It’s always great to see the actor challenge himself taking on roles for directors such as M. Night Shyamalan and Denis Villeneuve, but it’s also fun to see him flex his action muscles. Fortunately, viewers have many more opportunities to look forward to.

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