Stephen King Shares His Mixed Review Of The Fall Guy Despite 81% RT Score

Summary Stephen King finds The Fall Guy fun but not groundbreaking, expressing mixed feelings.

The movie has had an underwhelming box office performance.

Audience preferences for fresh content in a slow cinema period may have impacted the film.

Author Stephen King has given his mixed review of Universal's action-comedy The Fall Guy. Helmed by Bullet Train director David Leitch, and starring Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling, the movie is loosely based on the 1980s TV show of the same name. It follows a washed-up stuntman as he works on his ex-girlfriend's directorial debut movie, and is caught up in a conspiracy involving the film's lead star. The movie received largely positive reviews from critics, but has not been considered a box office success, grossing $145.6 million against a production budget of $130 million at the time of writing.

King takes to X, formerly known as Twitter, to respond to a post from fellow author Linwood Barclay, who opined, "The Fall Guy is great fun."

King regularly shares his opinions of pop culture on social media. The Salem's Lot author gave his own verdict on The Fall Guy, claiming "Yes, definitely fun, but great fun? Perhaps not." While saying the movie is fun, he holds back on giving it high praise.

Why Has The Fall Guy Not Resonated With Audiences Despite Positive Reception?

King's Review Shows The Mixed Feelings That Might Have Led To The Movie's Underwhelming Box Office

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Despite The Fall Guy's positive reviews, it has had a curious theatrical run, boasting a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 81%, and an audience score of 83%. However, despite this, the movie has fallen short of box office expectations, and there could be several reasons for this. King's Tweet suggests that, while some viewers no doubt enjoyed the movie, they only felt it was fun, but not groundbreaking. This coupled with the movie's quick move to streaming, could have caused some people to choose to wait and watch the film on digital platforms.

Another factor that could have led to the film's lukewarm box office run is the feeling that the movie blends the action and rom-com genres, without ever really giving enough focus to either. In a slow year for cinema, movies falling back on pre-existing IPs does not guarantee success, and audiences could well be craving something fresh and new, which might also be a factor.

The overall performance of the movie will be viewed as disappointing, and the disparity in some opinions toward the movie, as King and Barclay's opinions show, could have caused it problems theatrically. Hollywood is in a slow period right now, and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga's poor box office further exemplifies this point, with many people choosing to stay away from theaters, and The Fall Guy has also been a casualty of this.

The Fall Guy is available to rent or purchase on VOD.

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Source: Stephen King/X