Panned Morgan Freeman Thriller Storms the Global Netflix Chart (2024)

Kiss the Girls is storming the Netflix chart almost three decades after bringing James Patterson’s Alex Cross to the big screen for the first time in 1997. Although the film was critically panned at the time of its release, like many older movies, the film’s arrival on Netflix has given second life to a movie that would otherwise be languishing on DVD shelves and relying on occasional airings on network television to reach new audiences.

Directed by Gary Fleder and adapted from James Patterson's best-selling novel of the same name, the film stars Morgan Freeman as forensic psychologist Alex Cross and Ashley Judd as Dr. Kate McTiernan. Despite being led by two very capable and talented actors, the film was not a hit with critics and still holds just a 34% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the film resonated much more with audiences, securing a 62% approval rating and more than doubling its $27 million budget to land a $60 million box office result.

Kiss the Girls

R

Crime

Drama

Mystery

Where to Watch

*Availability in US

• stream
• rent
• buy

Release Date

October 3, 1997

Director

Gary Fleder

Cast

Morgan Freeman , Ashley Judd , Cary Elwes , Alex McArthur , Tony Goldwyn , Jay O. Sanders

Runtime

115 Minutes

Writers

James Patterson , David Klass

Kiss the Girls has now discovered a whole new audience on Netflix, quickly rising up the global chart to sit just behind the newly released Jessica Alba thriller Trigger Warning. More impressive is that the movie has achieved this without it being available in the U.S., where it can instead be found over at Paramount+. Had it been available, there is a strong chance it could have claimed an unexpected top spot on both the global and domestic charts.

Alex Cross Has Not Been a Huge Success on Screen

Kiss the Girls became the first adaptation of James Patterson’s Alex Cross novels, and Morgan Freeman returned to play the character again in Along Came a Spider in 2001. The sequel fared no better in its reviews – in fact, it dropped almost 10% in its audience score – but took over $100 million at the box office. Despite the financial success of the film, it was the last time Morgan played the role, and Alex Cross fans would wait another decade for their next fix…and it wasn’t worth the wait.

The eponymously titled 2012 release saw Tyler Perry taking over the lead role, starring alongside Lost’s Matthew Fox, Jean Reno, Edward Burns, and Rachel Nichols. Once again based on one of Patterson’s many novels, this time the 2006 book Cross, the film became the worst rated movie in the franchise (11% from critics and 42% from audiences), and was a box office bomb, falling just short of its $35 million budget. A planned sequel, which would have been based on the novel Double Cross, was canceled.

Alex Cross is Looking to Capitalize on Reacher’s Success

Prime Video are now looking to breathe life back into Alex Cross, and expand their range of hit action shows, with the new series Cross. The new series, which has been in development for many years, will star Aldis Hodge as the titular detective. Although the character has had a less than glowing reception on the big screen, he could really find his feet on streaming – just like Lee Child’s Jack Reacher.

Reacher appeared in two Tom Cruise movies, which proved to be moderately successful, but effectively traded authenticity for star power when casting Cruise in the lead. Prime Video’s series based on Child’s novels has become a juggernaut on the platform, shattering records and heading into its third series with Alan Ritchson in the lead. Whether Cross can capture the same market is something that is yet to be seen, but the series has already impressed author Patterson, who told the Armchair Expert podcast:

“The new Alex Cross series on Amazon with Aldis Hodge, that’s good. That’s the first one where I can look at it and really go, ‘Yup, it’s edgier, it’s more realistic about police work.’ I really like the way that turned out.”

The Netflix success of Kiss the Girls could act as a foreshadowing of just how popular the new series could be, but one way or another, it has once again proven that any movie can find a second life on Netflix, regardless of age or original reception.