Despite a fair share of misses, Russell Crowe is one of the most celebrated actors of his generation. He got his start as a child actor in a couple of roles in the ’70s and continued to do some TV episodes and other smaller roles. In 1992, his breakout role came in the Australian film Romper Stomper, playing a skinhead named Hando. This was an incredibly violent and intense role that showed off the actor’s ability to handle highly dramatic, dynamic, and complex characters.

In the over three decades that have pᴀssed since Rompser Stomper, Crowe’s career has included a wide variety of films. He has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, eventually winning one for Gladiator. He has covered a wide range of genres and styles within his career, even venturing into directing with the movies The Water Diviner and Poker Face. In recent years, Crowe has focused a lot on the horror genre between The Pope’s Exorcist and The Exorcism. Now, his career is branching out in a unique way, which could start a new trend.

Russell Crowe Is A Proven Box Office Star With Over $5 Billion In Sales To Show For It

And Its Not Always From Franchise Films

In addition to boasting awards and accolades, Crowe has proven himself to be a box office star. According to The Numbers, the actor’s films have made over $5 billion combined at the box office. This includes $2.7 billion worldwide from movies where he was considered the lead actor, putting him within the top 100 highest-ranked actors at the all-time worldwide box office. Crossed by stars such as Jack Black earlier this year, the $5 billion mark is considered a coveted box office career milestone for many actors, and Crowe has already pᴀssed this.

His box office wins come from a variety of тιтles, spanning both franchise favorites and standalone films. His highest-grossing movie is Thor: Love and Thunder, where he played Zeus. This was followed by another superhero тιтle with Man of Steel, where he played Jor-El. His third highest-grossing film, however, is Gladiator. This stands out from the other two films since it is a more respected, critically acclaimed work that at the time (before last year’s long-delayed sequel, Gladiator II) was a standalone feature. His no. 4 hit, Les Misérables, has similar qualities.

These numbers tell a clear story about what kind of actor Crowe is for theatrical releases. He is able to find success not just as an ensemble member in big superhero films, but also in films that would less typically be blockbusters. Musicals, for instance, sometimes struggle at the box office, but the name draw of stars like Hugh Jackman and Crowe elevated the film enough for it to do well. Even dramas like A Beautiful Mind, which also earned him an Oscar nomination, have done quite well at the box office.

After Dominating Theaters, Russell Crowe Is Finally Turning To Streaming

Most Of His Movies Where He Had A Starring Role Went To Theaters Until This Point

Crowe is setting a career first by starring in the Netflix movie Unabom, which is based on the true story of a Unibomber terrorist. The film will be directed by Janus Metz and feature a script written by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Graves. Jacob Tremblay leads the cast by playing the young Ted Kaczynski, and Crowe steps in to play his Harvard psychology professor, Henry Murray. Also included in the cast are Shailene Woodley as FBI agent Joanne Miller and Annabelle Wallis as Christiana Morgan, another person who works at Harvard with Murray.

Unabom is a Netflix original and will actually mark the first time that Crowe will be working with the streamer. This is somewhat surprising given the state of streaming right now, which is increasingly becoming a popular format for releases. Other A-list actors have worked with direct-to-streaming movies. Just this year, Steve Carell was in the HBO original Mountainhead, and Natalie Portman and John Krasinski led Apple TV+’s adventure film Fountain of Youth. These instances have shown that movies can still be star-studded even on streaming, but it’s a market Crowe is slowly exploring despite a few early but small attempts.

Unabom Could Fuel Many Russell Crowe Streaming Movies

It May Be More Appealing Than Short-Run Theatrical Releases

Unabom could set Crowe off on a new career path. Despite many box office hits, his more recent work has included a lot of limited theatrical releases and movies that go straight to digital. While this method does give films some time to amᴀss a box office haul, it is not the most financially rewarding for many. The Exorcism, for example, only had a couple of week-long theatrical window before releasing on digital platforms. At that time, it had only made $12.6 million worldwide, meaning it was far from a box office hit. However, many of his movies start gaining traction once they land on streaming services.

Given this history, Crowe may find that streaming movies will be the way to go in his career. Plenty of streaming films can gain significant traction among viewers and even score critical acclaim, which could be good press for him in what has been a shakier time in his career. These movies can also generate substantial revenue through subscriptions and advertising, a benefit which is not to be underestimated. As the film and television market further emphasizes streaming, it is possible that Crowe will concentrate on the streaming path after Unabom.

Russell Crowe May Do More Streaming Movies, But He Shouldn’t Forget About Theaters

Russell Crowe Can Still Make A Movie Successful

While Unabom may encourage the actor to do more streaming movies, it would be best for him not to abandon theatrical releases entirely. As evidenced by his box office history, Crowe is still a big name draw for a film under the right circumstances. He may not have had a big hit in a few years, but with a good project, he can help lead a film to success. For this reason, it is important that Crowe does not forget about the big screen that brought him to fame even when the allure of the streaming market might be tempting. That may be possible with developing projects like The Pope’s Exorcist 2 and Nuremberg.

In general, this seems to be the best way to go for many stars. True A-listers, especially those in Crowe’s generation, have the ability to attract audiences both to go to the theater, and to catch a movie on their personal screens at home. As Oscar-winning director Sean Baker urged at the Academy Awards, it is still vital that audiences go to the theaters to support movies. Crowe will likely find success with Unabom, but he is powerful enough as an A-lister to still keep audiences returning to the theaters in the modernizing era.