It’s common for books to be turned into TV shows and movies, and that trend is expected to continue. Hollywood is drawn to established stories and bringing them to the screen, but not every adaptation succeeds. While some become blockbusters or ratings winners, many others fall flat. For example, a fantasy film that didn’t perform well in theaters 11 years ago has unexpectedly become a big hit on Netflix today.
In 2014, Universal Pictures aimed to start a new film series based on Joseph Delaney’s The Spook’s Apprentice, the first book in his popular Wardstone Chronicles series. Originally published in 2004, the novel was brought to the big screen in 2014 by director Sergey Bodrov as a movie called Seventh Son.
A Second Life
If you’re struggling to recall a blockbuster film, you might not remember Seventh Son, as it wasn’t very successful financially. Despite a $95 million budget, the movie only earned a little over $114 million at the box office. This effectively ended any possibility of a sequel or a franchise, at least as originally planned.
Surprisingly, the film has become popular again on Netflix, landing in the 6th position on the platform’s Global Top 10 Movies list. It’s worth noting that this list features some major films, including 28 Years Later, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Man on Fire, Ruth & Boaz, and KPop Demon Hunters. Therefore, the fact that it’s been watched 4.9 million times, totaling 8.4 million hours of viewing time, is truly remarkable.
Couldn’t Break Through
Seventh Son generated considerable excitement before its release in cinemas, boasting a talented cast including Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Kit Harrington, Djimon Hounsou, Ben Barnes, and Olivia Williams. The movie was adapted from a well-loved book series, and even though the film itself didn’t connect with audiences, the books remained popular, with a total of 13 books in the core series and an additional four spin-off titles.
Even though the original story is well-loved and the movie features a fantastic cast, critics generally didn’t like it – it currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 12%. Viewers rated it a little better at 34%, and it looks like the film is now gaining a new wave of fans.
Seventh Son follows Gregory, a skilled hunter of witches and monsters. For years, he’s kept the exceptionally strong witch Mother Malkin locked away. However, she eventually breaks free and kills Gregory’s apprentice. Now regaining her powers, she begins to gather forces and build an army.
To defeat her, Gregory takes on Tom Ward as his apprentice. Tom is special because he’s a seventh son of a seventh son, but as the story unfolds, we discover there’s even more to Tom’s past that makes him the ideal person to fight against Mother Malkin’s powers. Gregory and Tom’s story continues in the next book, The Spook’s Curse, which came out in 2005.
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2025-10-03 16:12