That headline might be a lot to take in, but that’s to be expected when the catastrophic failure of doomed streaming service Quibi left so much confusing damage in its wake, with Die Hart: The Movie one of the very few success stories to emerge in the aftermath.
For those who don’t recall – which is understandable when the whole thing was over and done with in the blink of an eye – Quibi was launched to great fanfare by revealing a stacked lineup of short-form shows that aired brief eight-to-10 minute episodes designed for quick and easy consumption, but the pandemic saw the whole thing go up in a ball of flames because nobody was on the move.
One of the flagship projects was Kevin Hart’s self-aware action comedy series, which saw the actor and comedian attend action hero training run by John Travolta’s Ron Wilcox, where he learns to run, gun, and broaden his horizons. Even though Quibi went under in near-record time, Roku stepped in to acquire a number of properties for a pittance, leading to Die Hart being renewed for a second season called Die Hart 2: Die Harter, with John Cena among the new additions.
At the same time, Prime Video stepped in to have the entire first run of episodes re-edited and re-released as a movie, similar to what happened with fellow Quibi original Most Dangerous Game – which ironically also landed a second season renewal. Going two-for-two with its experimental rehabilitations, Amazon’s platform has landed another hit.
Per FlixPatrol, Die Hart: The Movie has emerged as the number one most-watched feature among subscribers around the world, so it would be reasonable to assume that at least a couple more forgotten Quibi exclusives could be dusted off and given the same treatment.