An instant success that got greenlit for a sequel within days and even got the biggest nominations in the prime categories. And yet, it had to leave its first home, establish its roots in a second location, and still twist its core concept to finally taste the big win it was supposed to live from the beginning, even at the cost of ending the long-running reign of a seductive romance.
A modern streaming fairytale, if anyone wants a mini-summary.
Anything that dared to rear its head in the infamous “peak Covid-19 years,” i.e., from 2020 to 2022, either fell flat on its face or tasted quick victories for introducing a novel idea, only to fizzle out soon after. The new streaming platform, Quibi, which started with introducing bite-sized entertainment in the form of 10-minute episodes is one big example, and Kevin Hart’s hilarious Die Hart season 1 was the glowing jewel in its crown. But not for long.
But Quibi had spread its wings too wide and set goals that were unattainable. Six months after its launch, it was shut down, leaving the fate of its shows up in the air… until The Roku Channel swooped in and purchased all the titles, including Hart’s comedy action-adventure, and upon discovering its potential, the OTT video streaming service agreed with Quibi’s decision for a second season. The episodes were once again 10 minutes long, featuring Hart as a fictionalized version of himself who wants to be taken seriously as an action star. Thus, he joins a camp run by John Travolta’s Ron to iron out the kinks but soon realizes he is in over his head.
The quality of both seasons can be deduced from the fact that its actors received seven nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2021 and 2023. But it was never the behemoth it aspired to be. Not anymore because since Roku and its creators decided that Die Hart’s two seasons need better and proper exposure and bunched the individual seasons into feature-length films — Die Hart: The Movie and Die Hart: Die Harter — for release on Prime Video, the “movies” have been soaring.
The first title was released in 2023 and Die Harter made Prime Video its home recently, in June 2024. Like the first title, which tasted instant success on the streamer, the latter has now displaced winning legends like the reality-bending but swoon-worthy The Idea of You starring the sizzling romance of Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galatzine as well as the Spanish drama Culpa Mia that ruled Prime Video since their release. But now, Die Harter — starring John Cena, Ben Schwartz, and Paula Pell along with Nathalie Emmanuel and Hart — is the top movie on the platform, as per Flix Patrol.
Will it hold its success in a brand new territory? Who knows. But what can be said with certainty is that this ain’t the last we have seen of the fictional Kevin Hart played by the real Kevin Hart as the promising performance of the show on Roku has already earned it a season three renewal, which means Prime Video will soon make space for a third series-turned-movie in its library.