Emily Blunt's Worst Movie Was Inspired by This 1952 Film That's Dominating Streaming

2 weeks ago 9

Published Mar 19, 2026, 8:01 PM EDT

Rohan Naahar is a Weekend 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.

There are bad movies, and then there are bad movies that somehow attract top-of-the-line stars. Who remembers Serenity? No, not the Firefly spin-off directed by Joss Whedon, but Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight's harebrained thriller that has one of the most unpredictable twist endings in recent memory. The movie featured Interstellar co-stars Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey in the lead roles, alongside Diane Lane, Jason Clarke, Jeremy Strong, and Djimon Hounsou. But their involvement couldn't convince its distributor, the now-defunct Aviron Pictures, to invest in a proper marketing campaign. Serenity grossed only $14 million against a reported budget of $25 million, and now holds a 21% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. It was only a year later that Hathaway's The Devil Wears Prada co-star Emily Blunt headlined an even stranger movie.

The film was directed by the Academy Award, Pulitzer Prize, and Tony Award-winning John Patrick Shanley. It also featured Jamie Dornan, Jon Hamm, and Christopher Walken alongside Blunt, and was released day-and-date in theaters and on the PVOD market in 2020. Set in Ireland, the romantic comedy follows a pair of childhood friends who never expressed their true feelings for each other, but grow close while their families scheme over a plot of farmland. It was widely ridiculed upon release, blindsiding viewers with a climactic twist unlike anything they'd ever seen. The film grossed just around $1 million against a reported budget of $5.5 million, and now holds a 25% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The aggregator's consensus noted that the movie was "fatally undermined by dodgy accents and a questionable story."

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We're talking about Wild Mountain Thyme, of course. The film was based on Shanley's own play, but had several similarities to the largely forgotten John Wayne vehicle The Quiet Man. Released in 1952, the romantic comedy marked a creative detour for Wayne and director John Ford, who were regarded as Western icons. Like Wild Mountain Thyme, the film's plot featured a mismatched couple, revolved around a fight over farmland, and built towards a ridiculous third act. The Quiet Man won Ford his fourth Best Director Oscar and was a solid box-office hit. It holds a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, "Director John Ford and star John Wayne depart the Western for the Irish countryside, and the result is a beautifully photographed, often comedic romance." According to FlixPatrol, The Quiet Man witnessed a surge in viewership this week on the domestic iTunes chart, presumably because of St. Patrick's Day; the Irish cult classic Waking Ned Devine followed close behind. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.