Eddie Murphy is picking up another No. 1 movie — on streaming. The 64-year-old actor and comedian, having starred in box office hits like 48 Hrs., Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, and Shrek, hasn’t headlined a theatrical-only wide release since A Thousand Words bombed at the global box office back in 2012. Instead, Murphy has found success in the streaming space, with his last five films topping the charts on Netflix (2019’s Dolemite Is My Name, 2023’s You People, and 2024’s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F) and Amazon’s Prime Video (2021’s Coming 2 America and 2023’s Candy Cane Lane).
Videos by ComicBook.com
The Pickup — which stars Murphy opposite Keke Palmer (One of Them Days) and Pete Davidson (Dumb Money) — marks Murphy’s latest movie to breakout on streaming. The action comedy premiered Aug. 6 on Prime Video and quickly took the top spot from War of the Worlds, the Ice Cube-fronted sci-fi flick called “one of the worst movies of all time” after achieving the rare 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Fellow action comedy Heads of State, starring John Cena and Idris Elba, dropped to No. 3 on the Prime Video Top 10, which includes Prime exclusives Housefull 5 at No. 6 and The Accountant 2 at No. 9. Rounding out the ten most-watched Prime movies are PVOD titles Flight Risk, The Count of Monte-Cristo, Terrifier 3, A Working Man, and Prey.
In The Pickup, “a routine cash pickup takes a wild turn when mismatched armored truck drivers Russell (Murphy) and Travis (Davidson) are ambushed by ruthless criminals led by savvy mastermind Zoe (Palmer),” the logline reads. “As chaos erupts, the unlikely duo must navigate danger, clashing personalities, and one very bad day that keeps spiraling out of control.” Tim Story (Barbershop, Ride Along) directs from a script by Kevin Burrows (The Package) and Matt Mider (Don’t).
Murphy plays Russell, a seasoned armored car driver and team player who respects the rules and finds security in routine. After decades at his job, he dreams of trading in his bulletproof vest and opening an idyllic bed and breakfast with his beloved wife Natalie (Eva Longoria). But when an unexpected assignment disrupts his plans for a romantic 25th anniversary dinner and puts him on a dangerous road with an inexperienced new partner — police academy washout Travis, a chatterbox with puppy-dog enthusiasm — Russell must unleash his inner action hero to ward off a team of violent hijackers, including Banner (Jack Kesy) and Miguel (Ismael Cruz Córdova).
The R-rated Prime original movie earned a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, below the 46% that Murphy’s last Prime movie, Christmas comedy Candy Cane Lane, received in 2023, but better than the notoriously maligned A Thousand Words (0%) and 2002’s The Adventures of Pluto Nash (6%).
The Pickup also fared far worse than 2019’s Dolemite, still Murphy’s best-reviewed movie at 97%, and recent straight-to-streaming sequels Beverly Hills Cop 4 (67%) and Coming 2 America (49%). It’s not playing much better with audiences: the film has a 47% rating on the Popcornmeter with an average 3.1 out of 5-star rating.
“I like Eddie Murphy, but why does he always choose the worst movies to star in?” asks user Michael G, who awarded The Pickup a half-star. User Will G agrees, writing, “I’m an Eddie Murphy fan, but he’s wasted in this.” Katie S calls The Pickup “a perfect summer comedy,” while Lindsey P praised it as “the best Eddie [Murphy] movie I have seen in ages.”
The Pickup is now streaming on Prime Video.
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Nintendo -
Image courtesy of Marvel Comics
