Milla Jovovich’s Failed ‘Resident Evil’ Replacement Is Leaving Netflix

After the grand success of their Resident Evil franchise, star Milla Jovovich and her husband, director Paul W.S. Anderson, attempted to launch another series with Monster Hunter. Like the Resident Evil films, Monster Hunter was adapted from a popular video game franchise. However, the Monster Hunter series stalled after the first installment, which underperformed at the box office. This was more the result of a poor release strategy than anything else, considering how well the Resident Evil franchise did despite poor reviews. But Monster Hunter hasn’t even been able to develop a cult following in the five years since its debut. It’s now leaving Netflix for a new home, which gives audiences little time to check it out if they haven’t.

Monster Hunter originally debuted in December 2020, mere months after a global lockdown had brought the theatrical marketplace to its knees. Even Christopher Nolan struggled to revive theaters with Tenet, which grossed around $50 million domestically a few months prior. Monster Hunter was primarily counting on Chinese audiences, but the strategy didn’t pay off. The movie ended up grossing under $50 million globally, against a reported budget of $60 million. Ironically, it earned relatively more positive reviews than any of Jovovich and Anderson’s Resident Evil movies. It now sits at a 44% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus reads, “Monster Hunter is mostly a mindless blur of action, held together by the slenderest threads of dialogue and plot — and exactly what many viewers will be looking for.”

‘Monster Hunter’ Did a Fraction of the Business ‘Resident Evil’ Did

By comparison, the best-rated Resident Evil movie on RT is the first, which holds a poor 36% score. Each of those films, however, grossed significantly more than Monster Hunter. In fact, the Resident Evil franchise ended on a high, with Jovovich’s final outing, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, grossing over $300 million worldwide. Welcome to Raccoon City, a reboot starring Kaya Scodelario, was released a year after Monster Hunter, in 2021, but it flopped with just $40 million worldwide.

You can watch Monster Hunter on Hulu now that’s off Netflix, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.