Joe Carnahan’s action film “Shadow Force,” which had a $60M budget, has stumbled with both audiences and critics. It currently holds a disappointing 33% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 5.4/10 user rating on IMDb. Box office returns have been underwhelming as well, with the film earning just $2M over its opening three-day weekend.
Despite a solid cast, including Kerry Washington, Omar Sy, Mark Strong, Method Man, and Academy Award-winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, the film’s hefty budget is proving hard to justify. It’s shaping up to be another misfire for Lionsgate.
Holding the film back from critics before its release seems to have backfired, though it's debatable whether advance reviews would have changed its fate. Given the weak reception, “Shadow Force” is likely headed to streaming platforms or in-flight entertainment sooner rather than later.
Interestingly, twelve producers are credited on the film, including Sterling K. Brown, who doesn’t appear in the movie, Washington, Pilar Savone, Stephen "Dr." Love, and Christopher Woodrow, a controversial figure linked to multiple legal disputes over the past decade.
In “Shadow Force,” Washington and Sy star as Kyrah and Isaac, former leaders of an elite multinational special forces unit of the same name. After violating the organization’s strict code by falling in love, they go into hiding to protect their son, only to become targets of their former comrades.
As for Carnahan, his 2002 debut “Narc,” starring Ray Liotta and Jason Patric, remains arguably his best film, though some would give that honor to the Liam Neeson survival thriller “The Grey.” Almost everything else in his filmography tends to fall into a very different category.
Fortunately for Carnahan, he recently wrapped production on “RIP,” a Netflix film starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. With the platform’s reach, it’s likely to attract significant viewership and be declared a hit during its first week of release.