Throughout his twenty-year movie career,Tom Hardyhas quickly become one of the most prominent names in Hollywood. The actor first appeared on the silver screen inBlack Hawk Down(2001) and inBand of Brothersin the same year. He quickly went on to star in other shows and movies, includingWuthering Heights,Peaky Blinders, andMobLandon the small screen.He also featured inInception(2009),Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy(2011), and evenThe Dark Knight Rises(2012), two of which were with Christopher Nolan.
Hardy has now earned a reputation as a leading man, starring inMad Max: Fury Road(2015) as the titular Max Rockatansky and as both Eddie Brock and Venom inSony’sVenommovies. The actor has also received acting accolades, earning an Academy Award nomination forThe Revenant(2015), a Critics' Choice Award forMad Max: Fury Road, and a Rising Star BAFTA. One of Hardy’s most significant critical accomplishments, however, has been ignored for over a decade.
The Warrior Spin-Off Has Been Long-Delayed
It Has Been 14 Years Since Warrior Was Released
Over a decade after Hardy’sWarriorearned acclaim from critics and audiences alike, director Gavin O’Connor still has dreams of a TV spin-off. The movie starred Joel Edgerton (Brandon), Hardy (Tommy), and Frank Grillo (Frank), and it managed to earn the respect of critics, having secured a 92% Popcornmeter score and an 84% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. It remains one ofHardy’s best movies, but a sequel never came to fruition since it failed to reach profitability at the box office.
In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter,O’Connor explained what led to the long delay between the movie and its spin-off. Though he described the show as “passionately alive in my bloodstream,“several streaming networks have turned away from the project, and the director still cannot explain why. He is continuing to look for a network that can host hisWarriorsshow, so he has no intentions of giving up on the series. Check out his quote below:
When we set it up, it was at Paramount+. We wrote a script, and then, for whatever reason, they decided they wanted to go in a different direction.What happened is all unexplainable to me.But I had a script at this point, and it’s very representative of what the series is going to be. It introduces all the characters except for one. HBO Max then said they wanted to do it, and so we pivoted to HBO Max. And then, for whatever reason, they decided they didn’t want to do it. They were going in a different direction. SoI need to find a home, man.Excluding the movie Warrior, if there’s any project I’ve ever had that is so passionately alive in my bloodstream, it’s this TV series. So I’m hoping I find the right home for it.
The DNA of the movie Warrior was two brothers on a collision course to fight each other in the Sparta tournament. So the series is called Warriors because we took that idea for two men and two women. They’re all fighters, but I hook you into their life fights outside of the cage. We’re going to explore their stories as they’re on a collision course to fight each other at Sparta. So that’s the idea, and I hope we can find a home, becauseI so believe in this showand what it could be. There’s nothing like it on television, so hopefully someone can see what I have in my head.
Our Take On Warriors' Long Delay
It Should Not Come As A Surprise
Unfortunately, it is not entirely surprising that the spin-off is struggling to gain traction, given the box office disappointment of the original 2011 movie. The movieearned just $23 million against a $25 million budget, which is painfully far from profitability. Just as the film failed to draw attention, a show could easily struggle to gain traction among audiences. No matter how critically renowned it is, networks will be understandably reticent to greenlight a spin-off. After all, no streaming platform wants to risk spending on developing a show, only to see it face poor viewership.
If the original movie ever becomes a streaming giant, then a spin-off could be greenlit.
HBO Max and Paramount+ have already turned down the idea of aWarriorshow, but other networks could take advantage of the opportunity. Even if they do show some interest, it would still not be a guarantee that this show ever completes development. It has been 14 years since the initial release, so even the initial interest could have faded. If the original movie ever becomes a streaming giant, then a spin-off could be greenlit, but as it stands, theWarriorspin-off is a difficult pitch to make.
