Summary

• Failure to Launch’s resurgence on Netflix is a reminder of McConaughey’s rom-com era and his absence from live-action films since 2019.
• Despite critics’ disapproval, the film’s $130M box office success and McConaughey’s performance make it a nostalgic hit for audiences.
• McConaughey’s upcoming live-action projects, like The Lost Bus and The Rivals of Amziah King, will mark his return to the big screen.

The recent popularity of the 2006 rom-com Failure to Launch has stirred up some jarring recollections about Matthew McConaughey’s career, including an ongoing dry streak in film. For some, being privy to Failure to Launch’s trending status means remembering that McConaughey once fronted a string of poorly received romance movies in the 2000s, i.e., The Wedding Planner (2001) and Fool’s Gold (2008). Yet, for others, particularly those appreciative of McConaughey’s rom-com era, Failure to Launch’s unexpected resurgence is a weighty reminder of how long it’s been since the actor stepped into the leading man role for romance.

After 2009’s Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, McConaughey left Hollywood for two years, citing the inability to secure roles outside the hunky love interest typecast as reasoning. Even though Failure to Launch fell short of impressing critics, divided audiences, and failed to fulfill the actor, the film’s ultimate $130 million box office haul and recent resurgence confirm it wasn’t all in vain. Whether a fan of McConaughey’s romance endeavors or not, Failure to Launch attests to the joy of watching McConaughey perform on screen in any genre and has become a reminder that it’s been a while since he has.

Why Matthew McConaughey’s Failure To Launch Is Trending On Netflix

Failure To Launch Is A Breezy Rom-Com With A Great Lead

Unexpectedly, Failure to Launch became a hit on Netflix 18 years after its initial release. For the week of July 29 to August 4, Failure to Launch ranked seventh on Netflix’s Global Top 10 with 4.8 million views and 7.8 million hours viewed. Although Failure to Launch is a multi-million dollar entity, a record of negative reviews makes it easy to doubt its trending status. The film has met heavy criticism for years, which Rotten Tomatoes sums up with a critical consensus reading: “The few comic gags sprinkled throughout the movie fail to spice up this formulaic rom-com.”

Failure to Launch
made $130 million worldwide off a $50 thousand budget.

The actor’s typecast history wasn’t groundless, as audiences love to see him as the love interest.

Failure to Launch may have no “spice” to jazz up its run-of-the-mill story – which follows a 35-year-old bachelor, Tripp (McConaughey), who falls for the interventionist his parents hire in hopes of motivating him into moving out – but something triggered it to trend. Easily, McConaughey’s performance is one of those reasons. The actor’s typecast history wasn’t groundless, as audiences love to see him as the love interest. Coupled with the fact that rom-coms are rarely developed nowadays, watching McConaughey in the lead of a nostalgic 2000s rom-com is hard to pass up, making Failure to Launch’s rewatch and streaming value high.

Matthew McConaughey’s Trending Movie Is A Reminder He’s Not Had A Live-Action Release Since 2019

The Gentlemen Was McConaughey’s Last Live-Action Film

McConaughey’s role in Failure to Launch feels even more enticing to stream, considering that the actor has not appeared in any live-action film in nearly five years. Unlike his Hollywood hiatus after Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, his break from live-action movies doesn’t appear to be a result of a lack of opportunity. In fact, since his last live-action role as Michael Pearson in the cast of 2019’s The Gentleman, McConaughey has featured in several projects, albeit in voice only. Instead of showing up onscreen, McConaughey’s endearing drawl has been leading his career recently.

McConaughey has been busy voice acting in the last five years in projects ranging from the Illumination short Come Home as Buster Moon to Sony Pictures Animation’s adult cartoon TV series Agent Elvis as Elvis Presley to the box office record-breaking hit Deadpool & Wolverine as Cowboypool. McConaughey has previously voice-acted for characters like Buster Moon in the Sing! franchise and Beetle in Universal’s animation Kubo and the Two Strings, but it has never taken him from performing on screen for any longer than it has now. Luckily, McConaughey has a few upcoming projects that will end his five-year-long streak off-screen.

What Movies Matthew McConaughey Has Coming Up

Two Live-Action Films Are On McConaughey’s Horizon

McConaughey is only attached to a few upcoming projects, but they’ll give audiences a chance to see the actor on screen again. His upcoming projects include a leading role in Paul Greengrass’ drama thriller The Lost Bus, which is currently in its post-production stage of development. The Lost Bus depicts California’s Camp Fire, the nation’s deadliest fire in a century, and features a cast comprising McConaughey, America Ferrera, Yul Vazquez, Ashlie Atkinson, and Daniel McCarthy. Also in its post-production phase and soon to feature McConaughey in a leading role is Andrew Patterson’s forthcoming movie, The Rivals of Amziah King.

McConaughey is set to play the title character, Amziah King. The plot of The Rivals of Amziah King is being kept under wraps; however, the project is described as a character-focused crime thriller set in Oklahoma and has a cast including Owen Teague, Kurt Russell, Cole Sprouse, and Catherine Dyer. On top of the forthcoming endeavors guaranteed to feature the actor in an on-screen role after Failure to Launch‘s streaming success, McConaughey is also lending his talent toward the sci-fi RPG video game Exodus and is rumored to be taking part in the forthcoming action drama Western TV series, 2024.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes