The Rotten Tomatoes score of Henry Cavill’s new action film seems to favor his James Bond prospects, but its box office seemingly spells trouble.
SUMMARY
Henry Cavill’s high Rotten Tomatoes scores may boost his James Bond chances, but his box office numbers spell trouble.
Despite getting love from the audience, Cavill’s films like ‘Argylle’ and ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ struggle financially, impacting his Bond odds.
While Cavill remains a strong action star, his age and box office trends may hinder his prospects of being the next James Bond.
Ever since Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond has ended, speculations about who would be his worthy successor have run rampant.
Unsurprisingly, many have pegged Henry Cavill as their choice for the iconic role even though many other talented stars have been thrown into the waves of speculation and rumors.
Henry Cavill, too, has openly expressed his interest in the role, making him an even more popular contender for the role.
While only time will tell whether he will land the part, his new film’s Rotten Tomatoes ratings are good for his James Bond prospects.
Contrarily, the commercial returns of the same movie underscore a potential issue with his casting.
Henry Cavill isn’t having a good 2024 so far. The actor’s latest movie is his second box office bomb of the year following a $96 million flop.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Is Henry Cavill’s Best Non-DC Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
Zack Snyder’s Justice League & The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Have The Same Audience Score On Rotten Tomatoes
When it comes to critics’ scores on Rotten Tomatoes, many Henry Cavill movies and shows have performed better than Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
For instance, while the Justice League extended cut has a critics’ score of 71%, Mission: Impossible – Fallout boasts a rating of 97%.
The Witcher‘s season 2 also has an almost perfect 95% score, and Enola Holmes is no less impressive with its 91% rating.
However, the audience’s Rotten Tomatoes scores for Henry Cavill’s movies tell a completely different story. Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Enola Holmes still have above-average scores of 88% and 71%, respectively.
Henry Cavill Movie
Rotten Tomatoes Critics’ Score
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
Mission: Impossible – Fallout
97%
88%
Enola Holmes
91%
71%
I Capture The Castle
78%
76%
Stardust
86%
The Count of Monte Cristo
73%
88%
Zack Snyder’s Justice League
71%
93%
However, Zack Snyder’s Justice League ranks far above them with its Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 93%.
Similar to the Zack Snyder film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare does not beat highly acclaimed Henry Cavill films like Mission-Impossible – Fallout and Enola Holmes with its critics’ score.
However, just like 2021’s Justice League, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare also has an audience score of 93%, making it Cavill’s most popular non-DC project among viewers. This discrepancy between critics’ and audience scores
Guy Ritchie’s explosive WWII action comedy The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare examines the first ever special forces mission.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’s RT Audience Score Beats Every James Bond Movie
Only Casino Royale Comes Close
The James Bond franchise has gone through its own ups and downs, highs and lows, with some of its installments not landing in the good books of viewers and critics.
However, others, like 007: Goldfinger, From Russia With Love, and Dr. No, have almost perfect critics’ scores on Rotten Tomatoes and equally stellar audience ratings.
Surprisingly, though, none of the James Bond movies have a higher audience score than The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
Of all the 27 films in the franchise, only Casino Royale comes close to beating the Henry Cavill movie with its 90% rating.
After all these years of talk about Henry Cavill playing James Bond, it is interesting that many viewers appreciate him in his new role more than they have admired any 007 films.
Rotten Tomatoes audience scores may not be an ideal metric for comparing two distinct franchises because they not only reflect subjective opinions but also represent a significantly small sample size.
However, after all these years of talk about Henry Cavill playing James Bond, it is interesting that many viewers appreciate him in his new role more than they have admired any 007 films.
It shows that even though Henry Cavill may be losing ranks in the race to become the next Bond, audiences would probably love to see him step inside the iconic spy’s boots.
Henry Cavill’s Box Office Isn’t So Good For His James Bond Chances
A Henry Cavill Box Office Trend Chips Away Some Of His Credibility
Unfortunately, despite having high Rotten Tomatoes audience scores, Henry Cavill’s movies are not performing well at the box office.
Argylle‘s audience score of 72%, for instance, is more than double its critics’ score of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes.
However, the movie still bombed at the box office by grossing a little over $96 million worldwide against a hefty budget of $200 million.
While it would be unfair to draw any concrete deductions from The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare‘s box office since it only premiered in the United States, the film has not exactly raked in impressive numbers.
Idris Alba, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Regé-Jean Page, Theo James, and Tom Hardy are among the many top speculated contenders for the coveted role of James Bond.
Another Henry Cavill movie, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which falls in the same brand of spy-centric action films as James Bond and Argylle, also failed to leave its mark at the box office.
By grossing around $107 million worldwide against a budget of $75–84 million, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. also incurred losses despite being hailed as a compelling action flick by critics and viewers.
Henry Cavill is undoubtedly a brilliant action star and does an incredible job at playing his characters.
However, the disappointing box office trend in his movies could play a significant role in reducing his odds of becoming the next James Bond.
While the film recounts a true story, The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare does make some deliberate changes to the story for the film.
Henry Cavill Probably Won’t Be The Next James Bond
The Role Will Likely Go To Someone Younger
Before Daniel Craig became James Bond, Henry Cavill was reportedly among the top actors considered for the iconic role.
He only lost the part because he was a little too young at the time to match Barbara Broccoli and Mike G. Wilson’s vision for the character’s future.
Unfortunately, even though it seems it is the perfect time for Henry Cavill to finally reclaim the missed opportunity, he still is a step too far from acquiring it.
The fact that relatively obscure actors are usually cast as James Bond suggests Henry Cavill is better off focusing on his other exciting future projects.
The 007 ship may have already sailed for Henry Cavill because, as good of a choice as he may seem, he has other movie projects to look forward to, and the James Bond franchise’s creators are now likely looking for someone much younger.
His casting as the next Bond is still within the realm of possibility.
However, the fact that relatively obscure actors are usually cast as James Bond suggests Henry Cavill is better off focusing on his other exciting future projects.