Guy Ritchie's Overlooked War Thriller Is Dominating Streaming Worldwide

Guy Ritchie made a straight-ahead war drama in 2023, and almost nobody showed up for it in theaters. Now The Covenant is quietly tearing it up on streaming. Not surprising if you saw it, kind of surprising if you only tracked its box office faceplant.

The streaming rebound

The Covenant has climbed into the movies top 10 on HBO Max, landing at No. 8 as of December 19, 2025, per FlixPatrol. This is the same film that went wide and shrugged at the box office, so the turnaround is notable.

What went wrong in theaters (and why that matters now)

Released on April 21, 2023, the movie rolled out in 2,611 theaters and opened to around $6 million. It crawled to just over $16 million domestic and another $5 million internationally, for a lifetime total of $21 million against a reported $55 million budget. That puts it among the bigger box office flops of its year. Ouch.

But here is the twist: audiences and critics actually liked it. A lot.

Reception: strong then, stronger now

On Rotten Tomatoes, The Covenant sits at 82% with critics and an eye-popping 98% with audiences. That audience score makes it Guy Ritchie’s highest-scoring film on the site right now. If you ever needed a case study in 'theater results do not equal quality,' this is it.

Cast and the Ritchie of it all

Jake Gyllenhaal leads the film alongside Dar Salim, with Antony Starr and Alexander Ludwig in the mix. It is Ritchie working in a serious register, and by all accounts he ran a tight, quick, instinct-driven set. Gyllenhaal put it this way during the press run:

'Guy is so agile as a filmmaker, he asks for that agility from his performers as well and from his whole crew. He has so many incredible techniques and weapons at his disposal because he has been working for so long. The process was just an incredible process of discovery. I loved doing it that way, and I loved working with him.'

The Covenant by the numbers

• Theatrical release: April 21, 2023
• Reported budget: $55 million
• Theater count: 2,611
• Opening weekend: around $6 million
• Domestic total: over $16 million
• International total: $5 million
• Worldwide total: $21 million
• HBO Max status: No. 8 on the platform’s top 10 movies (Dec 19, 2025, via FlixPatrol)
• Rotten Tomatoes: 82% critics, 98% audience

If you skipped it because the box office told you to, that is the exact kind of movie streaming is built to rescue. The Covenant finally found the crowd it deserved.