Russell Crowe’s ‘Nuremberg’ Has Only Grossed 1/3 of One of the Greatest WWII Movies Ever Made

Virtually all of Hollywood lined up to star in Terrence Malick‘s The Thin Red Line, the third film of his career, and the first after the legendary director essentially disappeared for two decades. Fortunately, there was a large requirement of male actors for The Thin Red Line; nearly every speaking part attracted a star of stature. The movie debuted to positive reviews in 1998, but underperformed at the box office. It has since gained notoriety for Malick’s negligence in informing star Adrian Brody that his leading role had been reduced to mere seconds. Despite the film’s underperformance, it still grossed three times as much as the recently released World War II drama Nuremberg, starring Russell Crowe as the Nazi war criminal Hermann Göring.

Released three weeks ago, Nuremberg has grossed around $12 million domestically — a third of The Thin Red Line‘s $36 million haul. Nuremberg has yet to be rolled out internationally, where Crowe might prove to be a bigger draw. The movie also features another Oscar-winner, Rami Malek, as the co-lead. The Thin Red Line, on the other hand, featured dozens of recognizable actors. The cast included Jim Caviezel, Woody Harrelson, Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, George Clooney, John Cusack, John C. Reilly, John Travolta, and many others. Produced on a reported budget of $52 million, The Thin Red Line grossed just under $100 million at the worldwide box office.

‘Nuremberg’ Holds a Higher Rotten Tomatoes Score Than ‘The Thin Red Line’

The movie earned positive reviews for Malick’s direction and for Hans Zimmer‘s now-legendary score. The Thin Red Line is now sitting at a “certified fresh” 80% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Nuremberg, on the other hand, seems to have settled at a 71% score on RT. However, it’s the 96% audience score that the film has earned that’s worth paying attention to. It suggests that the movie will likely be a massive hit on the PVOD market, seeing as it targets older crowds that are typically okay with waiting for the movies they’re interested in to hit home video, and less likely to rush to theaters out of FOMO.

You can watch Nuremberg in theaters, and check out The Thin Red Line if you haven’t — it’s often listed among the best WW2 movies of all time.