Simon Kinberg‘s action thriller with a 24% Rotten Tomatoes score has become a Netflix hit. Though his first screenwriting credits were XXX: State of the Union and Mr and Mrs. Smith (both 2005), Kinberg rose to prominence writing and producing several films for the X-Men franchise, including Last Stand (2006), First Class (2011), Days of Future Past (2014), and Apocalypse (2016).
In addition to X-Men, Kinberg has written or produced several other notable films, some of which were also for 20th Century Fox, including Sherlock Holmes (2009), Elysium (2013), Fantastic Four, Cinderella, Chappie (all 2015), and Murder on the Orient Express (2017). Kinberg also produced Ridley Scott’s The Martian, for which he earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
In 2019, Kinberg made his directorial debut with the X-Men movie Dark Phoenix, which he also co-wrote. Although it was a mᴀssive critical and commercial failure and one of the biggest box-office bombs of all time, Kinberg returned to direct a standalone action thriller in 2022, though it saw similar results.
The 355 Becomes A Netflix Hit
The 355 has become a Netflix hit. Directed by Kinberg, who co-wrote the script with Theresa Rebeck, the 2022 action thriller follows a team of female spies who join forces to prevent a terrorist group from triggering World War III. Its тιтle comes from Agent 355, the codename used by a female spy for the Patriots during the American Revolution.
The 355‘s cast is a star-studded ensemble that includes Oscar winners Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), and Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Oscar nominee Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice), Emmy nomiee Édgar Ramírez, Diane Kruger, Fan Bingbing, Jason Flemyng, Sylvester Groth, John Douglas Thompson, Emilio Insolera, Jason Wong, and Leo Staar.
Now, three years after its release, The 355 ranks sixth on Netflix’s Top 10 movies in the United States for today, August 22. It ranks below KPop Demon Hunters, Fall for Me, Broke, Night Always Comes, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and above Despicable Me 2, Happy Gilmore 2, H๏τel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, and Home.
Our Take On The 355’s Netflix Success
Much like Dark Phoenix, Simon Kinberg’s follow-up, The 355, was a critical and commercial failure. Despite boasting a strong ensemble and a forward-thinking premise, The 355 reviews panned the film for wasting its potential on a bland and forgettable narrative, resulting in a 24% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The 355 also bombed at the box office, earning just $27.8 million worldwide against its $75 million budget, leading to an estimated $93 million loss for Universal. But still, as indicated by its 86% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, The 355 offers decent entertainment for audiences in the mood for a light action thriller.
