Franchise movies are still popular, but as we’ve seen from the box office receipts of movies like Fantastic Four: First Steps and even Superman to an extent, they are down in performance while several originals have had a really great year. Titles from Sinners to Weapons have had strong performances at the box office, and other originals have done super well critically. Which brings me to a 2025 movie release with a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Made on only a $20 million budget, Warfare nabbed $33 million in theaters. Given you usually need 2-2.5x at the box office to garner a project, the movie is not the biggest theatrical success story of the year. Which is why I’m so happy it’s been popular now that home viewers can stream it with an HBO Max subscription.
New data from FlixPatrol has Warfare in the No. 1 slot for HBO Max viewers living in the U.S. this week in September. In fact, both of HBO Max’s top slots currently go to original 2025 movies, with Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd’s oh-so-uncomfortable Friendship being the second most widely viewed title. It’s a good week for originals, folks.
Warfare Has A 93% Score, But Not Just From The Critics
I didn’t know what to expect from Alex Garland’s Warfare. As a film journalist, I’ve seen myriad war movies in my time, and it's really difficult to stand above the pack. In this case, the premise is based on writer/director Ray Mendoza’s own experiences in the Iraq War and follows a sequence of events that really went down in 2006. Set in real time, it’s eye-opening and engaging.
Our own Eric Eisenberg gave it a four out of five stars in CinemaBlend’s Warfare review, while another co-worker has called it the “best movie of the year” (so far). I personally went into the movie with no real expectations, and I was glued to my seat the entire time. It’s also maybe TMI, but worth mentioning, that I had to pee through most of the movie’s runtime, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen for even a moment.
It’s not just critics who are really digging Warfare though. One other thing I’d really like to point out about Warfare is that it’s the rare movie critics and the audience seem to wholeheartedly agree on. On Rotten Tomatoes, the critics score for Warfare is a 93%. Also on the aggregator site, the audience score for Warfare is a 93%. Basically, everyone agrees this movie is good, and I wish it had garnered even more eyeballs in theaters.
If you missed it, though, that’s OK. You can give it a watch now on HBO Max. And tell all your friends how solid the movie is.
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