Black Baghas now debuted on Rotten Tomatoes, and the score almost sets aSteven Soderbergh movierecord. Marking Soderbergh’s follow-up toPresence(2024) and his third collaboration in a row with screenwriter David Koepp, the upcoming spy thriller stars Michael Fassbender as George Woodhouse, a legendary spy who must investigate his wife, Kathryn Woodhouse (Cate Blanchett), after she is accused of betraying the nation. In addition to Fassbender and Blanchett, theBlack Bagcast features Naomie Harris, Tom Burke, Regé-Jean Page, Marisa Abela, and Pierce Brosnan.
Rotten Tomatoesnow reveals thatBlack Baghas debuted to a 95% score from 21 reviews, as of writing. Though this score is sure to fluctuate as more reviews are added, it currently marks Soderbergh’s highest score as a director sinceSex, Lies, and Videotapein 1989, which has a 96%. An audience score hasn’t arrived yet, but one should begin to take shape next week when the movie hits theaters.
What Black Bag’s Rotten Tomatoes Score Means For Steven Soderbergh
Will It Break A Recent Audience Trend For The Director?
Reviews forBlack Bagpraise Soderbergh’s efficient direction and cinematography, a strong script from Koepp, and the compelling performances. Aside from two exceptions, the positive reception toBlack Bagcontinues an impressive streak for Soderbergh over the last eight years. The filmmaker continues to stay very busy making movies, regularly releasing new titles, and many of them have fared very well with critics. Check out the chart below of Soderbergh’s directorial Rotten Tomatoes scores dating back toLogan Luckyin 2017:
95%
88%
52%
48%
74%
92%
59%
87%
50%
41%
40%
91%
80%
76%
A clear pattern present in this chart is that theSoderbergh movies that earn positive reviews from critics don’t often fare well with audiences. Inreviews forPresence, for example, the low-budget film was praised for its inventive storytelling from the point-of-view of a ghost and for its lack of reliance on jump scares, but a common sentiment in the audience reviews is that the movie wasn’t all that scary. WithBlack Bagearning a glowing score, a major question facing the film is whether it can break this trend and appeal to general audiences.
Black Bagmarks Fassbender’s second recent espionage project after his starring role in the generallywell-receivedThe Agencyon Paramount+ with Showtime.
Our Take On Black Bag’s Rotten Tomatoes Score
The Spy Thriller Could Be More Mainstream
One of the reasons why Soderbergh makes movies at such a rapid pace is that the films don’t often feature very large budgets; the risk per movie is generally fairly small. Lower budgets also mean that the movies tend to feature fewer special effects and less bombastic action. This could be part of why general audiences haven’t responded well to many of his movies over the past decade. It’s telling, for example, that one of his highest audience scores over the last few years is forMagic Mike’s Last Dance, which is one of his most commercial and mainstream movies.
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At least one estimate has putBlack Bag’s budget at a hefty $60 million, which admittedly doesn’t sound entirely accurate. Still, trailers have teased thatthe film will have some tense moments of action and impressive production designon top of lots of star power, and this could help endear the movie to audiences. It remains to be seen howBlack Bagfares with audiences, but it’s evidently off to a great start with critics.
