Dave Bautista’s Disastrous Sci-Fi Action Movie Finds Redemption on Streaming

The post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie Afterburn, starring Dave Bautista, flopped when it originally came out in theaters, but it has since found considerable success on streaming. The film debuted in the US on September 19, 2025, and was a critical and commercial failure. However, it seems to have turned its luck around.

Afterburn is a hit on MGM+

Afterburn has become a big success on MGM+. As of May 7, it ranked among the top 10 movies and TV shows on the platform. However, it has since slipped out of the top 10 list (via FlixPatrol). The current entries in the list are the sci-fi horror show From, The Institute, the Robin Hood series, The Running Man, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue, Regretting You, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, and Contact.

Notably, the data from FlixPatrol isn’t necessarily complete, but it does give a broader picture.

J. J. Perry (The Killer’s Game) directed Afterburn from a script by Matt Johnson and Nimród Antal. Bautista plays a former soldier-turned-treasure hunter named Jake. The film’s cast also includes Samuel L. Jackson as August Valentine, Olga Kurylenko as Drea, and Kristofer Hivju as General Volkov.

Set on an Earth devastated by a catastrophic solar flare, the plot follows Jake as he embarks on a mission to retrieve the Mona Lisa. The movie had a $57 million budget (via The Hollywood Reporter), but earned just $1.3 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo).

As mentioned above, Afterburn received mostly negative reviews from critics, as per Rotten Tomatoes. However, Clement Tyler Obropta of Film Inquiry gave a modestly positive review. “Afterburn might be extremely basic — as far as these go, anyway — but the filmmaking beneath the hood shows a lot of ambition and promise, and Dave Bautista handily proves that no matter the role, he always brings his A game,” Obropta wrote.