Liam Neeson Military Sci-Fi Action Flop ‘Battleship’ Now Streaming Free

Liam Neeson has been in a ton of action movies over the course of his career, but not a lot of them have crossed over into the realm of sci-fi. Perhaps that’s for the best, as the few movies that have walked that thin line haven’t necessarily found a lot of success. Let’s just say Neeson is better at kicking butt in the real world, rather than in a universe populated with lightsabers and aliens.

To wit: Neeson’s 2012 military sci-fi action spectacle that was loosely based on, of all things, a board game. Featuring an ensemble cast that includes Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård, Brooklyn Decker, and R&B singer Rihanna in her feature film debut, critics were right to call this one a “derivative, nonsensical sci-fi project.” It’s true, there’s not much to love about it, but for the Neeson completionists who just have to watch every single movie he’s ever been in, Battleship is now streaming for free on Tubi.

‘Battleship’ Felt Like a Bad Cash Grab

Following the colossal success of Transformers in 2007, it made sense that Hasbro would want to look into some of its other IPs and see which ones could potentially be turned into big screen blockbusters. They chose G.I. Joe next, which was the correct move when you consider that, like Transformers, it already had a built-in fan base that had spent years collecting the action figures and consuming the cartoons.

However, their decision to try and turn Battleship into a movie was way off base. Sure, folks had grown up playing the board game, but it wasn’t like there was already a built-in story to go off of. Suddenly, things went from people guessing “B6” at the dining room table, to a horde of extraterrestrials invading Earth. What in the world were they thinking? Oh, right. They were hoping it would feel close enough to Transformers that audiences would love it just as much. Sadly, that wasn’t the case.

‘Battleship’ Lost A Boatload of Money

Rhianna in Battleship

Universal Pictures

Made for upwards of $220 million, Battleship managed to take in around $313 million at the box office during its theatrical run, but only $65 million of that was from domestic ticket sales. While that overall total might look okay on paper, it’s not.

When you take into consideration things like marketing, and the fact that theaters (especially those overseas) take a large cut of the profits before the rest is handed over to the studio, Battleship ended up actually losing money. How much? According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film set Universal Pictures back the cool sum of $150 million, which means you just know some executive was running around yelling, “You sunk my Battleship” by the time it was all said and done. Wouldn’t you?

Still, for all its faults, we will say that Battleship is one of those popcorn flicks that you can just turn your brain off for. At a little over two hours, it does overstay its welcome, but once the action picks up, you barely notice. Thankfully, it is on Tubi, which means you won’t have to spend any additional cash if you want to brave the silliness that is one of Neeson’s more outrageous movies.