Matthew McConaughey’s Divisive Desert Adventure Finds Free Streaming Success 20 Years Later Despite 37% Rotten Tomatoes Score

January 29, 20253 Mins Read

When you hear “alright, alright, alright” it’s impossible to think about anyone other than Matthew McConaughey. The Oscar-winning actor has starred in all manner of movies over the years, but 20 years ago he teamed up with a Silo star for a globetrotting desert adventure that has made a shocking return to streaming charts. McConaughey stars alongside Steve Zahn and Penélope Cruz in Sahara, the 2005 action comedy that is streaming for free exclusively on Pluto TV, and is also one of the more popular movies on the platform, sitting at #6 at the time of writing. Sahara earned scores of 37% from critics and 53% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and it grossed $119 million at the worldwide box office against a $130 million budget, making it a major flop.

Sahara is based on the novel of the same name by Clive Cussler, with Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, John C. Richards, and James V. Hart writing the script for the film and Breck Eisner directing. Eisner made his feature directorial debut on the 2005 desert adventure film, and he followed that on the big screen five years later with The Crazies, the 2010 horror film starring Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell. Five years after that, he also worked with Fast & Furious star Vin Diesel for The Last Witch Hunter, the fantasy action/adventure movie that also stars Elijah Wood. Eisner has more recently worked on TV series such as The Expanse, the dystopian sci-fi thriller show starring Steven Strait and Dominique Tipper that ran for six seasons on Prime Video; he helmed 14 episodes of the show before it concluded in 2022.

What Roles Are Next for Matthew McConaughey?

Matthew McConaughey will next team up with Barbie star America Ferrera and Prison Break veteran Danny McCarthy for The Lost Bus, the upcoming thriller that’s currently in post-production but does not yet have an official release date. He’ll also feature alongside Kurt Russell and Owen Teague in The Rivals of Amziah King, which is also in post-production and comes from writer/director Andrew Patterson. McConaughey most recently made his MCU debut featuring in the small role of Cowboypool in Deadpool & Wolverine, but he hasn’t been featured in a true live-action role since his work in The Gentlemen, the 2019 crime thriller from director Guy Ritchie.

Sahara stars Matthew McConaughey and was directed by Breck Eisner. Stay tuned to Collider for more streaming updates and watch Sahara on Pluto TV.