The Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler, and Chadwick Boseman-led antiquarian romp has finally met its audience.

The gods are immortal! 2016 dud ‘Gods of Egypt’ finds new life on Netflix

The Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler, and Chadwick Boseman-led antiquarian romp has finally met its audience.

By Jordan Hoffman

Published on August 12, 2025 04:14PM EDT

Brenton Thwaites running afoul of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the 2016 film 'Gods of Egypt'. Credit:

Lionsgate/Courtesy Everett Collection

As with the fate of the fearsome Egyptian god of the underworld Osiris himself, we have witnessed a brutal slaying and a resurrection. Only this time it's a movie (partially) about Osiris!

In 2016, the Egyptian-born Australian film director Alex Proyas (best known for *The Crow*, *Dark City*, and *I, Robot*) released the gaudy, silly, old school supernatural sword-and-sandal picture *Gods of Egypt*. The movie starred Gerard Butler as the nasty, jealous god Set, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Horus, Geoffrey Rush as Ra, Bryan Brown as Osiris, and Chadwick Boseman at Thoth. Hardcore mythology nerds know where each of these characters held dominion. But for all their powers, they had no control of critics or the box office.

Elodie Yung plays one of the many female characters in 'Gods of Egypt' that takes advantage of the warm climate by wearing scant clothing.

Lionsgate /Courtesy Everett Collection

*Gods of Egypt, *in which the enormous deities would often hang out with tiny mortals (who would often massage them in gigantic swimming pools), cost a reported $140 million to make and returned just $31 million at the domestic box office. It fared somewhat better internationally, but not enough to put this project anywhere near the black. What's more, the critical response was dire. It scored just 15% on Rotten Tomatoes,**

At the time of release, there was also a bit of a brouhaha over the fact that most of these mythological beings were played by Australian, Scottish, English, French, or Danish actors — not Egyptians. It's hard to know to what extent that kneecapped ticket sales, but it surely didn't help. Sure, Claudette Colbert and Elizabeth Taylor both played Cleopatra, but maybe that's a thing of the past for a *reason*.

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Yet now, nearly a decade later, those who have a sense of humor about B movies with broad, cheesy performances and lavish special effects (did we mention the gods bleed gold?) are catching on to the picture's cult potential.

The only stream mightier than the Nile is Netflix, and Proyas' movie has been doing gangbusters business there these past few days. It showed up as the ninth most-watched movie on Sunday, then climbed to No. 5, and, for two days in a row, has secured the bronze medal at No. 3. It's probably not going to surpass the current *KPop Demon Hunters *phenomenon, but more people are currently watching this nine-year-old weirdo flick than the highly visible Netflix originals *Happy Gilmore 2* or *My Oxford Year*.**

Gerard Butler surveys his forces in 'Gods of Egypt'.

Lionsgate /Courtesy Everett Collection

We'd need to consult with the Oracle at Amun or maybe poke through the entrails of an owl to know exactly why *Gods of Egypt *has found a new audience — though it may be working in tandem with another Gerard Butler movie, 2023's *Kandahar*, also showing up in the top 10.

Either way, should you decide to jump on the bandwagon, you should know what to expect. *Gods of Egypt *is actually told from the point of view of a young rapscallion named Bek, played by Brenton Thwaites. He's a young thief who is allied with Horus (Coster-Waldau), but works for Set's private architect Urshu (Rufus Sewell). He and his gal pal Zaya (Courtney Eaton) decide to steal some secret plans, which send them on a course of endless traps-and-obstacles set pieces in the *Indiana Jones *(or, perhaps more honestly, *Prince of Persia*) style.

Alas, the beautiful Zaya soon finds herself dead, but back then that wasn't necessarily a hinderance for a long-term love affair. Bek can rescue her from the underworld (where she's seen hangin' with Anubis) if he can use his thievery skills to retrieve Horus' lost eye. Easy peasy.

There are, of course, complications, like getting in the middle of the nightly space battle between Ra, god of the sun, and Apophis, god of darkness. You'd figure these two would work something out by now. Also: Chadwick Boseman's Thoth, god of wisdom, is quickly recruited to help answer the riddle of the Sphinx.

Flaming weapons, glass boats, and a chariot pulled by flying scarabs make their way into the picture, as well as a seeming mandate that none of the performers wear too much in the way of clothes. It is, after all, a warm climate in ancient Egypt, so why not show off your bod?**

The Great Sphinx of Giza. This is an actual thing and has nothing to do with the movie 'Gods of Egypt'.

Sui Xiankai/Xinhua via Getty

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Egyptology and Hollywood have a cherished history, going back to the 1932 Universal horror picture *The Mummy * and, as alluded to earlier, several *Cleopatra *epics. (The Liz Taylor one from 1963 truly is a spectacle.) It's hard to call *Gods of Egypt *an essential movie, but it does deserve its spot on this particular, peculiar shelf. If you decide to stream it this week, just know that you are not alone.**

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Movies”