One of the most expensive box office failures of the 1990s is now available to watch for free. Wild Wild West, the 1999 sci-fi Western starring Will Smith, has arrived on Tubi, according to Collider.
The film cost a reported $170 million to produce and earned around $220 million worldwide, leaving it well short of profitability when marketing costs are factored in. Smith headlined the project after famously passing on The Matrix to take the role. At the time, he was considered the biggest star of the decade, coming off hits including Bad Boys, Men in Black, and Independence Day.
Wild Wild West reunited Smith with Men in Black director Barry Sonnenfeld. The cast also includes Kevin Kline, Salma Hayek, and Kenneth Branagh.
Collider framed the film's arrival on streaming against the current box office landscape. The Mandalorian and Grogu, the first Star Wars film in seven years, is on track to become the lowest-grossing installment in the Star Wars franchise. Two horror films, Obsession and Backrooms, each cost less than $10 million to produce and have each grossed more than $300 million worldwide. The Mandalorian and Grogu cost a reported $165 million to make and has virtually no chance of outgrossing Solo: A Star Wars Story, which made around $390 million worldwide in 2018.
Wild Wild West now sits as a point of comparison for high-budget films that failed to connect with audiences despite major star power and studio backing. Its arrival on free streaming gives viewers a chance to revisit the film more than 25 years after its theatrical release.
