Henry Cavill's 90-Minute Night Hunter Flopped in Theaters — Now It's a Streaming Sensation

If you thought Henry Cavill was just biding his time until the next big sword fight or CGI robot showdown, think again. While everyone’s still talking about what he’ll do in that Highlander reboot or wants to see him pilot mechs in Amazon’s Voltron movie, Cavill just pulled off a pretty wild comeback—on streaming, of all places—with a movie most people wrote off years ago.

Night Hunter: The Comeback Nobody Saw Coming

So here’s the setup: back in 2018, Cavill starred in Night Hunter (you might also see it called Nomis if you’re feeling international). The gist? Cavill ditches the clean-cut superhero look for scruffier, haunted detective vibes. He plays a typically gruff cop who doesn’t play by the rules—yep, we’ve all seen that one before—hunting down a serial killer in a city full of ominous moody lighting, cynical police colleagues, and the usual ‘nobody listens to the maverick’ tension.

Night Hunter isn’t just Cavill, though. He’s teamed up with Alexandra Daddario (playing a profiler) and Ben Kingsley, who’s apparently contractually obligated to show up in at least one slightly bonkers supporting role each year. This time, Kingsley’s a mysterious vigilante who keeps sticking his nose into the police investigation, and there’s a twisty web of missing women, a creepy suspect, and a whole lot of angry shouting in interrogation rooms.

Critics Hated It. Audiences… Did Not.

Now, let’s not sugarcoat it: critics absolutely tore Night Hunter to shreds when it came out. We're talking a punishing 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, with ‘contrived’ and ‘cliched’ getting thrown around so much you’d think they were product placements. The film bombed at the box office too, limping away with just $1 million—pocket change by Hollywood standards.

Fast-forward to 2024 and, somehow, the movie’s getting a second wind. In the US, Night Hunter is now sitting at #2 on STARZ, just behind Sydney Sweeney’s headline-grabbing erotic thriller, The Housemaid. Meanwhile, it’s also doing shockingly well on Paramount+ abroad. Why the sudden resurrection? Maybe we’re all thirsty for short, punchy crime thrillers again. Or we just really want to see Cavill brood and punch his way out of complicated murder plots. (I’m betting it’s both.)

'Contrived and cliched' – Critics on Night Hunter, pre-streaming resurgence

So… What’s Next for Cavill?

If all this retro-love for Cavill’s detective adventures has you wanting more, you won’t have to wait long. After bailing on The Witcher and being officially done with Superman (thanks to James Gunn blowing up the old DC cinematic universe), Cavill is finally moving on to a stack of projects that have been rumored forever, but are now actually happening. Here’s the near future for Cavill fans:

• Highlander Reboot – Finally in production with Chad Stahelski (the John Wick guy) at the helm. First footage is teasing 'John Wick with swords,' plus Dave Bautista playing the Kurgan. Swordfights and immortal smackdowns are definitely happening.
• In the Grey – Another Guy Ritchie joint, with Cavill, Eiza González, and Jake Gyllenhaal all tangled up in action-thriller shenanigans. If you liked Cavill in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, this one’s in the same ballpark.
• Voltron (Live-Action) – Amazon’s dusting off this ’80s robots-vs-monsters property, and Cavill’s expected to pilot some serious metal.
• Enola Holmes 3 – He’s back as Sherlock alongside Millie Bobby Brown at Netflix. If you’re into quirky mysteries, you’re set.
• Warhammer 40k (Amazon series) – For everyone who always wanted Cavill to wear even more armor and shout at aliens, here you go.
• Broadsword – Rumor mill says he might team up with Tom Cruise again for a big, sweeping war epic. Still unconfirmed, but if it happens, you’ll hear about it everywhere.

So, to sum up: Night Hunter is having way more fun on streaming than it ever did in theaters, people everywhere are clearly fine with Cavill playing whatever kind of glowering action hero you can throw at him, and—let’s face it—sometimes it’s just nice to watch a pulpy cop thriller with your favorite Man of Steel acting like he’s in a Dad Police Fantasy League. If you missed Night Hunter the first time? Now’s your chance to see what all the recent fuss is about (or at least enjoy Cavill wandering through the crime-thriller wilderness like it’s a lost episode of Luther).