The Channing Tatum Sports Action Flick You Missed Is Now a Streaming Sensation
Channing Tatum’s long-forgotten 2009 brawler Fighting is suddenly throwing haymakers on Paramount+, muscling into the streamer’s most-watched nearly 17 years after its theatrical debut.
File this under the unexpected: Channing Tatum's 2009 bruiser 'Fighting' has climbed back into Paramount+'s Top 10. Yes, that 'Fighting.'
The surge
'Fighting' has jumped to No. 5 on Paramount+'s movies chart in the U.S., according to FlixPatrol, and it held a Top 10 slot from January 24 through January 29. A quick nerdy note: that ranking comes from third-party tracking (FlixPatrol), not Paramount+ handing out medals.
Quick refresher: what the movie actually is
Directed by Dito Montiel, the film opened in U.S. theaters on April 24, 2009. Tatum plays Shawn MacArthur, a broke New Yorker hustling counterfeit goods on the sidewalk. Terrence Howard shows up as Harvey Boarden, a smooth-talking con man who spots Shawn's natural ability to throw hands and funnels him into the city's underground fight scene.
From there, Shawn squares off with pros across the spectrum: boxers, martial artists, and MMA types. He starts making real money, kicks some of it to Zulay Velez, a single mom he's close to, and then complicates everyone's plans by refusing to throw fights. That last part does not make him popular with the people pulling strings.
Cast roll call
- Channing Tatum as Shawn MacArthur
- Terrence Howard as Harvey Boarden
- Luis Guzman as Martinez
- Brian White as Evan Hailey
- Flaco Navaja as Javon Wilkinson / Ray Ray
- Cung Le as Dragon Lee
How it landed back in 2009
The reception was mixed-to-rough. On Rotten Tomatoes, it sits at 39% from 130 critic reviews. Audience score? 36% on the Popcornmeter. At the box office, it pulled in about $32.4 million worldwide, with roughly $23 million of that domestic, per Box Office Mojo. Not a flop, not a phenomenon.
Why the sudden love now?
It could be simple: Tatum nostalgia, a watchable underdog setup, and some gritty New York knuckle-brawling you can throw on at night without committing your soul. Either way, nearly 17 years after its theatrical debut, 'Fighting' is back in the ring and landing streams where it counts.