This isn’t exactly the sort of movie that was expected to do big numbers. It comes from a small distributor and was made on a sub-$20 million budget. It was most likely made with VOD, streaming, and the DVD market in mind. Yes, surprisingly, thanks to Redbox and other avenues, physical media can still provide a financial boost to these smaller action films with star power. In any event, that’s why “Land of Bad” probably flew under just about everyone’s radar. There was no major marketing campaign to speak of, but it seems to be finding its audience.
With that, Crowe has become something of an off-key box office hero in recent years. “Unhinged” was one of the very first new movies to open wide in the aftermath of the pandemic and helped to get theaters back on their feet after a majorly difficult period. Last year’s “The Pope’s Exorcist” was also an unexpected hit, as it not only did well in theaters but topped the charts on Netflix as well. It’s also getting a sequel, birthing a new horror franchise.
So sure, maybe Crowe’s days of leading classy, Best Picture-winning movies are behind him. Maybe he’ll have some sort of late-career resurgence. Whatever the case, for the time being, he’s still very relevant, doing his thing in blue-collar movies.
“Land of Bad” is in theaters now.