Brad Pitt's Gritty War Thriller With Jon Bernthal Is Officially a Global Streaming Smash

1 week ago 28

Published Oct 31, 2026, 5:20 AM EDT

Rohan Naahar is a News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

With the recently released survival thriller Heart of the Beast having exceeded box-office expectations, director David Ayer’s previous collaboration with star Brad Pitt has been added to the Netflix library. Ayer and Pitt worked together on a fan-favorite 2014 hit, which remains the benchmark of success for Heart of the Beast. The new survival thriller has grossed more than $170 million at the global box office so far, against a reported budget of $80 million. It’s still trailing the 2014 movie by around $40 million. Like that film, Heart of the Beast has received exceptionally positive reactions from audiences.

This has become something of a signature for Ayer, who has now delivered a trio of crowd-pleasers in three consecutive years. In 2024, he directed the action hit The Beekeeper, which grossed more than $160 million globally and received a “Verified Hot” 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. A year later, Ayer reunited with Jason Statham on A Working Man, which made nearly $100 million worldwide and received an 87% audience score on the aggregator website. Heart of the Beast has outclassed both those films with a 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Meanwhile, Ayer and Pitt’s 2014 hit is perched at an 84% audience score, having cemented itself as a streaming juggernaut.

Here's How the World War II Movie Performed in Theaters

We’re talking, of course, about the World War II action movie Fury. Also featuring Jon Bernthal, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, and Michael Peña, the film follows the crew of an American tank during the final days of the war. The film ended its theatrical run with a $210 million global haul against a reported budget of $80 million. It now holds a “Certified Fresh” 75% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “Overall, Fury is a well-acted, suitably raw depiction of the horrors of war that offers visceral battle scenes but doesn't quite live up to its larger ambitions.” Bernthal has had a terrific year, thanks to hits such as the Netflix series His & Hers, the Disney+ special The Punisher: One Last Kill, and the back-to-back blockbusters The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. You can watch him in Fury on Netflix beginning November 1. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.