The new Road House remake featuring UFC superstar Conor McGregor in his first major film role delivered the biggest streaming debut in history for Amazon Prime Video.
The film scored 50 million worldwide viewers in the first two weeks since being released, which is the largest audience in history for an Amazon MGM Studios release.
Based on the original 1989 cult classic starring Patrick Swayze, the new Road House follows an ex-UFC fighter played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who ends up working as a bouncer at a rowdy seaside bar in the Florida Keys. It’s there he runs into McGregor’s character — a paid mercenary named Knox — and they go to battle in several different scenes.
“The groundbreaking, successful debut of Road House is a testament to the hard work and commitment from the entire Road House filmmaking team and the film’s cast led by the phenomenal Jake Gyllenhaal,” Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios, said in a press release. “The world is absolutely loving this entertaining, action-packed ride anchored by the performances of Jake, Conor McGregor, Daniela Melchior, Darren Barnet, Billy Magnussen, Jessica Williams, Lukas Gage, Arturo Castro, JD Pardo, and the rest of our stellar cast.
“It’s great to see the film taking off with both fans of the iconic original as well as a huge turnout from new audiences. This incredible film is really giving everyone something to talk about, and we couldn’t be more proud!”
The eye-popping numbers will likely embolden director Doug Liman after he expressed disappointment that Amazon made Road House a streaming only release rather than putting the film into theaters.
There’s no word yet if there’s any chance for a sequel to Road House given the massive debut but anything seems possible. As of Monday, Road House sits at a 59 percent approval rating on the film review website Rotten Tomatoes with audience scores actually dipping to 54 percent.
Despite his naivety as an actor, McGregor largely received positive marks for his performance including our own review that stated “his cocky Irish accent, brash physicality and wide-eyed mean-mugging really are the only fun parts about this movie.”
Regardless of reviews or audience scores, a whole lot of people tuned into watch the Road House remake, which certainly delivered for Prime Video.