Christoph Waltz’s Failed Action Comedy Finds Streaming Success

A Christoph Waltz film that flew under the radar upon its initial release has found success on Paramount+. Old Boy originally had its world premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival on October 17, 2024, before debuting in select U.S. theaters and digitally. The movie performed poorly with the critics, garnering a 26% approval rating on the review-aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes after 38 reviews

Old Guy is a hit on Paramount+

Old Guy has become a streaming hit on Paramount+ and currently holds the fourth position in the Paramount+ top 10 movies list as of February 10, according to FlixPatrol. The movies that are above it on the list are The Running Man, Roofman. and Regretting You, all 2025 releases. The other entries on the list are Due Justice (2023), Just Like Heaven (2005), Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025), Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Wander (2020), and Jack Reacher (2012).

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

Simon West, who previously helmed movies like Con Air and The Expendables 2, directed Old Guy from a script by Greg Johnson. The movie’s cast includes Christoph Waltz as Danny Dolinski, Lucy Liu as Anata, Cooper Hoffman as Wihlborg, Ryan McParland as Doug, Ann Akinjirin as Opal, Jason Done as Milo, Tony Hirst as William, and Kate Katzman as Simone.

The plot of Old Guy revolves around Danny Dolinski, an aging assassin who becomes the trainer for a young prodigious hired killer. However, Danny soon begins to realize that ulterior motives are at play.

As indicated above, Old Guy received mostly negative responses from professional critics. Courtney Howard of Variety wrote, “Director Simon West and writer Greg Johnson take the tired Grumpy Veteran Argues With Fresh-Faced Rookie trope to all-new lows in a film that feels maddeningly disinterested in delivering any of its underdeveloped goods.”

Despite this, the movie currently has a 94% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating that it has received a largely favorable response from general viewers.