One of the most amusing aspects of the release of a new Ridley Scott movie is the nonchalance with which he skips through the press tours. They’re even more amusing than usual when he’s promoting a historical movie, which happens quite often. Scott invariably finds himself fielding questions about the factual accuracy of his stories, and he clearly couldn’t be less bothered. He has been made to defend his choices as recently as last year, when he was promoting Gladiator II, and the year before that, when he made Napoleon. But his love-hate relationship with historians goes back to around two decades ago, when he made the movie Kingdom of Heaven. It’s now surging up the streaming charts as we speak.

According to FlixPatrol, Kingdom of Heaven was among the 10 most-watched titles on the global HBO Max charts earlier this week, when the leader board was topped by Zach Cregger‘s Weapons. Kingdom of Heaven was originally released in 2005, and served as Scott’s return to historical dramas for the first time since Gladiator, which became a monumental pop-culture phenomenon in 2000. Gladiator won the Best Picture and Best Actor Oscars, and grossed over $460 million worldwide. Needless to say, expectations from Kingdom of Heaven were huge, but the movie didn’t exactly live up to them. A dramatized depiction of the events leading up to the Third Crusade, the movie was designed to examine a religious conflict through a post-9/11 lens.

However, it opened to poor reviews and disappointing box office reception following a battle Scott lost over the cut with the studio. Kingdom of Heaven is now sitting at a 39% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus reads, “Although it’s an objective and handsomely presented take on the Crusades, Kingdom of Heaven lacks depth.” Produced on a reported budget of $130 million, the movie made only a little over $215 million worldwide. The director’s cut, however, received superior reviews. Kingdom of Heaven was headlined by Orlando Bloom, fresh off the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and also featured Eva Green, Liam Neeson, Edward Norton, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, and Ghassan Massoud.

Ridley Scott Is a Master of Period Dramas

Scott’s fascination for period dramas continued despite the raised eyebrows the film attracted. He went on to direct the Biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings, the Gladiator-reunion Robin Hood, the medieval drama The Last Duel, the darkly comic epic Napoleon, and most recently, Gladiator II. Curiously, each of these movies underperformed commercially.

You can watch Kingdom of Heaven at home, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Release Date

May 6, 2005

Runtime

144 Minutes

Writers

William Monahan