Creative bankruptcy has long since began to fizzle out in Hollywood, with any recognizable property or potentially marketable IP never being allowed to gather dust. One of the more bizarre recent trends is for standalone and completely unconnected sequels to emerge years after a hit movie, with S.W.A.T.: Firefight seizing an advantage on Netflix.
The 1970s TV series of the same name was remade for the big screen in 2003, which saw a star-studded cast including Colin Farrell, Samuel L. Jackson, Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J, and Jeremy Renner play their part in propelling Clark Johnson’s actioner to a respectably solid $207 million box office haul.
Eight years later, Firefight arrived (and was marketed) as a continuation set in the same world, even though it featured a brand new cast and didn’t make a single connection or reference to what had come before. But hey, it’s a lot easier than trying to sell something to the masses that isn’t tether to an existing brand, right?
That question looks to have been answered in the affirmative by the current complexion of the Netflix charts, which has Firefight rising up to secure a spot on the worldwide most-watched list, as per FlixPatrol. This time, the location has shifted to Detroit, with the titular band of elite law enforcement offers trying to fend off the threat of an assassin who has the S.W.A.T. unit and a hotshot hostage negotiator in their sights. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before, that might be one of the reasons the film has been proving so popular.