Christian Bale Has The #1 Movie On Streaming
Christian Bale currently has the number one movie on streaming, and it is one of the method actor’s newest films. Amsterdam, which came out in October 2022, is currently the number-one film on HBO Max. The film, which is a comedic historical drama loosely based on true events, follows the story of three friends who witness a murder and are framed for it.
Amsterdam was written and directed by David O. Russell (American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook), and he based the plot for the film on the Business Plot, a 1933 conspiracy to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt and insert retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler as dictator. Christian Bale plays a World War I veteran, Burt Berendsen, who is framed for murder as part of the conspiracy along with his friend Harold Woodman, who is played by John David Washington.
The film is bursting with a star-studded ensemble cast. Alongside Christian Bale and John David Washington, Margot Robbie joins as the third major lead, an eccentric nurse named Valerie Voze. Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Zoe Saldaña, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Timothy Olyphant, Andrea Riseborough, Taylor Swift, Matthias Schoenaerts, Alessandro Nivola, Rami Malek, and Robert De Niro also all appear on screen at some point during the film.
Christian Bale’s acting career has spanned over 36 years, and in that time, he has played a wide array of characters. Bale is known for undergoing grueling physical and mental transformations in order to create the characters he is portraying on screen, and the process was no different for the actor while preparing for his role in Amsterdam. The Academy Award-winning actor even admitted to stalking random people in public in order to embody the mannerisms of strangers that he thought would be perfect for his character.
Unfortunately, Christian Bale’s efforts in creating the character of Burt Berendsen and the star-studded cast of the film were not enough to bring the historical dramedy success at the box office. Amsterdam only brought in $31 million worldwide on its opening theatrical weekend and was expected to lose 20th Century Studios an estimated $97 million. The film couldn’t even garner enough critical acclaim to counter the low box office numbers, with most critics giving mixed or average reviews.
Fortunately for Christian Bale and his castmates, streamers seem to be enjoying the movie more than theater-goers did, as it has made its way to the top of the charts on the HBO Max streaming platform. The film’s success on the streaming service comes after critics have claimed the film is a bunch of big stars stumbling around an overly messy plot. While it’s unlikely that the streaming success can make up all the money that the studio lost from the film, at least Amsterdam won’t be considered as big of a loss for the company.
Even if Amsterdam doesn’t become Christian Bale’s biggest hit blockbuster, at least the actors had fun while making it. Bale admitted that he had so much fun filming with Chris Rock that he had to avoid being around him as the comedian would constantly break Bale’s method acting by being too hilarious.
