Jason Statham staring off a boat in The MegImage via Warner Bros. Pictures
Veteran producer Basil Iwanyk recently revealed on The Town podcast that the key to Jason Statham and Gerard Butler’s successful business model is that studios must learn to ignore the domestic box-office gross of their movies. Statham and Butler have cultivated a massive fanbase that prefers watching their films at home, either on the PVOD market or on streaming. Iwanyk went so far as to say that even a movie that grosses $15 million at the domestic box office will eventually make a profit because of the staggering popularity of Statham and Butler at home. Indeed, Statham’s January offering, Shelter, grossed just $13 million domestically. He returned to the big screen this week with another action vehicle, Mutiny. Audiences in the mood for more Statham-fueled mayhem might want to check out one of his biggest recent hits, which is currently streaming in the United States on HBO Max.
However, the movie in question is due to be removed from the service on September 1. It was released theatrically in 2018, grossing nearly $530 million worldwide against a reported budget of $178 million. What was more shocking was that it made just $145 million in North America, with the majority of its revenue — $153 million, to be exact — coming from China. Encouraged by this box office performance, a sequel was swiftly green-lit. Released in 2023, it generated nearly $400 million worldwide, but the Chinese appetite for English-language movies had mostly died down by then.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Watch Jason Statham’s Sci-Fi Blockbuster on HBO Max Before It Leaves
We’re talking, of course, about the sci-fi action-thriller The Meg and its sequel, Meg 2: The Trench. Directed by Jon Turteltaub, the film also features Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, and Cliff Curtis. The Meg received mediocre reviews and is now sitting at a 47% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The site’s consensus reads, “The Meg sets audiences up for a good old-fashioned B-movie creature feature, but lacks the genre thrills — or the cheesy bite — to make it worth diving in.” You can watch The Meg on HBO Max until September 1, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Release Date
August 10, 2018
Runtime
113 minutes
Director
Jon Turteltaub
Writers
Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber, Dean Georgaris, Steve Alten
