Summary
-
Challengers
is one of the top 10 most popular movies on streaming for the week of August 1 – 7. - The film, which stars Zendaya, earned positive reviews from critics and audiences for its compelling performances and steamy portrayal of the world of professional tennis.
-
Challengers
‘ relatively high budget hurt its box office performance.
Challengers has become a streaming hit after releasing in theaters earlier this year. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, Challengers stars Zendaya as Tashi, a former tennis prodigy who finds herself caught in a love triangle while training her tennis champion husband to face off against her ex-boyfriend. The film, which also stars Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, was met with a warm critical reception and currently enjoys a strong 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
New streaming data from Reelgood reveals that Challengers ranks as the ninth most popular movie on streaming in the U.S. for the week of August 1 – 7. The film, which is available to watch on MGM+, beats 2024’s vampire horror Abigail, but comes just behind titles like Wicked Little Letters, IF, and Tarot. Check out the full top 10 list below:
Challengers’ Theatrical Reception Explained
How Zendaya’s Tennis Movie Fared At The Box Office
Challengers‘ reviews were generally very positive from critics, with praise aimed at the strong performances from Zendaya, Faist, and O’Connor. The movie’s depiction of the world of professional tennis, too, is unique, and Guadagnino makes the sport both intense and sensual as it becomes intertwined with Tashi’s love triangle. The response from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes was less glowing than from critics, but the film still enjoys a respectable 73%.
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Challengers Ending Explained: Who Won The Final Match
Challengers sees the ups and downs of intense relationships within the tennis world. We break down the film’s biggest ending developments and more.
Commercially, Challengers was less of a success. The movie grossed $94.2 million worldwide, which would normally be an impressive feat for a sports drama. What hurt Challengers at the box office, however, is its sizable budget of an estimated $55 million. Using the typical Hollywood rule of thumb, a movie with a $55 million budget would be looking at a break-even point of roughly $137.5 million, a goal Guadignino’s film fell far short of.
It’s entirely possible that Challengers‘ VOD and streaming performance will go some way to offsetting any losses that incurred from its theatrical run. Still, though, the Guadignino film does seem, given its premise, like it would have been better suited to a budget in the $30 million range. While Challengers may not have been a massive theatrical success, it’s evidently finding its audience on home viewing platforms.
Source: Reelgood
Challengers
4.0
Challengers is a romantic sports comedy film by director Luca Guadagnino. The film stars Zendaya as a retired Tennis legend who, while trying to coach her husband and lead him to victory in an upcoming Tennis match, discovers his coming opponent is her ex-lover.
- Director
- Luca Guadagnino
- Release Date
- April 26, 2024
- Studio(s)
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , Pascal Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Amazon MGM Studios
- Writers
- Justin Kuritzkes
- Cast
- Zendaya , Josh O’Connor , Mike Faist , Darnell Appling , Bryan Doo , Shane T Harris
- Runtime
- 131 Minutes