The Intriguing Story of Jason Statham’s Wild Card

As casino-themed movies go, up until recently they had relative cinematic success. You only have to reference the likes of Casino (1995) starring Robert Di Niro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci for proof that films showcasing the wonders of gambling can be big box office hits.

There are also the endless James Bond flicks that have seen the British secret spy flirt with casinos throughout his illustrious reign as cinema’s premier secret agent. However, it hasn’t all been positive of late for this somewhat aging genre. Although, underground hits like Rounders prevailed mainly due to its stellar cast (Robin Williams, Ed Norton, John Malkovich, Matt Damon), other films with much bigger budgets struggled to turn profits (Runner Runner, Poker Night) more recently.

So, what’s gone wrong?

It’s hard to say, as the gaming demographic is still relevant. Games such as poker have never been more popular and millions play around the world every day but the life seems to have been sucked out of the genre. Maybe there are only so many times you can glamorize the Vegas casinos before people got sick of having the bright lights of Sin City rammed down their throat constantly by big budget films.

Realistically, casino films haven’t seen a sizeable return on their investments since the glorious Ocean’s franchise – which we’ll come on to later in more depth. But why has this seemingly lucrative film niche lost its mainstream appeal?

Let’s take a look at the recent Jason Statham movie, Wild Card. It saw its global release this March, and regardless of its $30 million budget, the film performed dreadfully at the Box Office. In its first week in the United States it was said to have only taken a meager $3,201 at the Box Office, while also receiving some rather stinging reviews from some of the most respected movie hacks around.

Although, the film did perform a little better through Blu-ray and DVD sales it underperformed immeasurably, leaving many people questioning how in fact it got approved such a huge budget in the first place? With an underwhelming cast for such a big budget action film, it’s mystifying where the bulk of the $30 million actually went. Wild Card wasn’t full of huge action scenes – most notably because Statham’s character Nick Wild refused to carry out his duties with anything but his own aging fists.

Beneath the huge losses, questions were beginning to be asked as to how this film managed to get off the ground. And although there were 4 production companies helping fund the film (Current Entertainment, Quad Films, SJ Pictures, Sierra / Affinity) it was questioned whether they would commit to such an outlay themselves without significant external funding.

Thus, one of the theories being banded about is that Wild Card received the bulk of its funding through product placement. An old age form of marketing that has been prevalent in movies for decades, the theory is that Wild Card was funded by some of the casinos that are featured heavily in the film. You only have to look back at the hugely famous Ocean’s franchise to see how that was extremely successful in helping fund the film to a global market. Casinos like MGM Grand and the Bellagio were granted primetime coverage throughout the films as a way of injecting these grandeur establishments in the psyche of the viewing public. Let’s face it, the first thing anyone wants to do after watching a film like any of Ocean’s trilogy is to jump on a plane and experience Las Vegas for themselves.

Now Wild Card isn’t going to feature in any top 10 casino-themed film lists anytime soon, however the film isn’t actually as bad as its taking would have you believe. And although director Brian Koppelman (Rounders, Ocean’s Thirteen, Runner Runner) wouldn’t put his name to a film like Wild Card, it shouldn’t be completely dismissed by the casual action movie fan either.

Most of the action scenes utilize Statham to the best of his abilities, and are probably the most memorable moments of the film on a whole. But as Statham’s grip on his own personal “American Dream” goes through a series of twists, maybe it’s this drawn-out theme that moviegoers have seen enough of over the years. Casinos, since their inception have relied on subliminal messages like: “anyone can become rich playing at their establishments,” kinda motto through films and marketing strategies to help embed their services in the psyche of viewers. However, with Wild Card being labeled a “Box Office Bomb” by some media outlets, maybe it’s time moviemakers left this genre alone for a while.

The reality is that 95% of the people that step into casino come out with a lighter wallet than they walked in with. The old adage: “the house always wins,” may be finally kicking in with the viewing public and the reality of the scenes they are watching are becoming more disconnected from real life. And as true-to-life as Nick Wild may be, there are some ludicrous plot twists in Wild Card that induce the odd snigger.

Luckily for Statham, Wild Card was quickly overshadowed a month later by the release of the latest Fast 7 movies, and moviegoers soon forgot the pitfalls of Wild Card – if they even witnessed them in the first place.

Even if the Vegas casinos did bankroll the bulk of Wild Card, one thing is for sure, that industry professionals might want to think twice before assigning a huge budget to a Statham film in the future or even a casino-themed flick anytime soon.

Exclusively submitted to Action Flick Chick
Written by PopcornHoarder