Matt Damon’s Strangest Movie Was A Flop But It’s Now A Streaming Success
Matt Damon's film Downsizing is streaming in the top 10 on Parmount+.
Sure, Matt Damon has worked with some of Hollywood’s most well-known celebrities, from fellow Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser to his longtime BFF and frequent collaborator Ben Affleck, but many don’t remember the star-studded cast that Damon led in 2017’s Downsizing. Proving that star power isn’t all it takes for a movie to rake in the big bucks, the film was a major box office flop, but now, according to FlixPatrol, the title is absolutely crushing it on Paramount+ where it’s found itself nestled in the streamer’s Top 10.
Directed by Alexander Payne (The Descendents), Downsizing saw Matt Damon’s character, Paul Safranek as an occupational therapist who, along with his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig), decides to try out a new scientific breakthrough that shrinks people down and gives them the opportunity of living in a tiny community. The major downside to downsizing is that it’s an irreversible process, but the upside is that if enough people hop on board, it will greatly shrink humanity’s usage of natural resources. But, just as life in the real world comes with its own set of pitfalls and problems, Paul soon realizes that a shrunken life isn’t so great either.
Along with Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig, the feature also starred Christoph Waltz and Hong Chau in leading roles. There was also an A-list team of cameo and ensemble members, with the likes of Laura Dern, Niecy Nash, Jason Sudeikis, James Van Der Beek, and Neil Patrick Harris joining the lineup. The title served as Alexander Payne’s return to filmmaking following his critically celebrated 2013 feature Nebraska which was nominated for six Oscars.
Unlike Payne’s other films, including Nebraska, Election, and About Schmidt, Downsizing wouldn’t be the box office hit that he and the cast and crew were hoping for, with the film only grossing $55 million globally up against its budget of $68-76 million. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has only achieved a 47 percent rating, with critics commenting that while the feature boasted big names like Matt Damon and Christoph Waltz, the script and other aspects were messy. Still, many enjoyed the story’s sci-fi base, which may be why Paramount+ subscribers are giving it a fresh chance.
Aside from taking over Paramount+ via Downsizing, Matt Damon’s decades-long career has been so filled with hits that it would be hard to find a streaming service without at least one of his titles on it. As for his upcoming projects, fans were thrilled to hear that he and his Good Will Hunting collaborator Ben Affleck would be back at it again for the film Air. Under the direction of Affleck, who will also co-star in the film, Damon and the rest of the cast will tell the story of former Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro and his pursuit of making an extra buck off of basketball’s rising superstar – Michael Jordan.
Set for a release on April 5, the film will see Ben Affleck and Matt Damon team up all over again following their co-starring roles in Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, which the Oscar-winning pair also co-wrote. Further down the line, we can expect to see the Bourne franchise star appear alongside another stellar cast in Christopher Nolan’s highly-anticipated biographical drama Oppenheimer.
