Chris Evans left the Marvel universe in 2019 with “Avengers: Endgame,” but since then his roles have had varying success.
He had a memorable part in the acclaimed murder mystery hit “Knives Out,” scored acclaim for his series “Defending Jacob,” and had a couple of fun cameos in “Free Guy” and “Don’t Look Up”. On the flipside, Pixar’s “Lightyear” was a commercial bomb theatrically despite generally positive reviews.
Evans has also been a part of three direct-to-streaming films – “The Gray Man” which did strong numbers despite soft mixed reviews, negatively reviewed and little-seen Netflix acquisition “The Red Sea Diving Resort,” and the action rom-com “Ghosted” co-starring Ana de Armas for Apple.
Though it was Apple’s most watched film debut, “Ghosted” was widely panned – earning just 26% (4.2/10) with critics and 55% (3.2/5) with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. In a profile piece for GQ, Evans acknowledges the film “could’ve been better”:
“‘Ghosted’ to me felt like a movie that I grew up on, a movie that maybe we don’t see very much anymore, and the question is whether or not audiences have outgrown those types of films.
I didn’t think audiences had outgrown it prior [to making it], and I still don’t think they have, despite the fact, I mean, technically I think we did okay on, in terms of viewership.
Critics didn’t like it. But that’s more the fault of the movie as opposed to the appetite of the audience. I think the appetite’s there, if it’s done properly. We could have been better.
Evans is hoping to have more luck with his upcoming drama “Pain Hustlers” and the holiday action-comedy “Red One”. Unfortunately, reviews out of Toronto for “Pain Hustlers” seem to be on par with “Ghosted” at this point (just 23% on RT). That film launches October 20th on Netflix.
