Rising to fame as a WWE wrestler, John Cena‘s first starring role was in the action movie The Marine (2006). However, he has also shone in comedic roles, such as in Trainwreck (2015), Ferdinand (2017), and Blockers (2018).
Cena has also starred in several action franchises, including the Transformers spinoff film Bumblebee (2018). He has also played Jakob Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise, including in F9 (2021) and Fast X (2023), and Peacemaker in the DC Universe, including in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad (2021) and his eponymous HBO Max series, with Peacemaker season 2 set to premiere on August 21.
In recent years, Cena’s output has been prolific, with roles in the action adventure Hidden Strike, the buddy comedy Vacation Friends 2 (both 2023), the comedy Ricky Stanicky, and the action comedies Jackpot! (both 2024) and Heads of State (2025). However, one particular John Cena movie has emerged as a surprise global hit on Netflix.
Freelance Becomes A Global Netflix Hit
Freelance has become a global Netflix hit. Directed by Pierre Morel, best known for Taken (2008), the 2023 action comedy stars John Cena as a former special forces operative who is hired to protect a journalist (played by Alison Brie) during her interview with a dictator, but when a sudden military coup erupts mid-conversation, they must flee together into the jungle.
The cast also includes Juan Pablo Raba, Christian Slater, Alice Eve, Marton Csokas, and Sebastián Eslava.
Now, two years after its release, Freelance ranks sixth on Netflix’s Global Top 10 movies for the week of August 4-10 with 4 million views and 7.3 million hours viewed. It ranks below My Oxford Year, KPop Demon Hunters, Happy Gilmore 2, Megamind, Gladiator II, and above H๏τel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Coach Carter, and Kandahar.
What This Means For Freelance
Freelance becoming a global hit on Netflix is a decent consolation prize for a film that was excoriated by critics, earning a dismal 10% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It also bombed at the box office, making just $10 million against its $40 million budget.
However, audiences agree that for those looking for lots of action, Freelance is an enjoyable and entertaining choice, fueling its climb to Netflix’s Global Top 10. Sure, it couldn’t lure audiences to theaters with the promise of explosions and Cena’s charisma, but it now gets to wear the coveted Global Top 10 badge, the Hollywood equivalent of a participation trophy – shiny and meaningless, yet oddly comforting.
