A serial killer thriller that paid its star $40 million before earning nowhere near as much at the box office digs up the past on Netflix

As the success of The Equalizer 3 underlined for the umpteenth time less than a week ago, the box office drawing power of Denzel Washington remains undimmed. Unfortunately, even he couldn’t overcome the pandemic, with The Little Things failing to turn a profit in theaters, not that it ever really stood a chance.

In keeping with his impeccable track record, though, it did manage to open at number one domestically despite being released simultaneously on HBO Max, but ultimately limped out of theaters having barely passed its $30 million budget in ticket sales.

And yet, Warner Bros.’ questionable decision to debut all of its features day-and-date without consulting the stars who were contractually obligated to receive a cut of the profits saw them arrange a string of financial compensation packages, with reports estimating that Washington ended up walking away from The Little Things with $40 million in his back pocket.

Actors earning more than the movie they starred in earned at the box office isn’t exactly a regular occurrence in Hollywood, but it would also be fair to say the height of COVID’s first wave was a strange time for everybody, and that would ultimately extend to include Denzel’s bank balance.

It wasn’t even all that good, either, with the much-vaunted trio of the leading man, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto hardly justifying all the marketing that had focused so heavily on their Academy Award-winning credentials.

It’s a serial killer thriller at the end of the day, which by default means it’ll find at least one new lease of life on streaming, and The Little Things is back at it again after FlixPatrol outed it as one of the most-watched titles on Netflix’s global charts.