John Cena's Matchbox movie tops Apple TV+ worldwide charts days after streaming debut

Less than a week after landing on Apple TV+, Matchbox — the action-adventure comedy built around Mattel's iconic toy car line — has climbed to the top of the platform's worldwide movie charts, according to FlixPatrol data cited by MovieWeb, surpassing other titles.

The film premiered exclusively on Apple TV+. It was directed by Sam Hargrave, known for the Extraction films, and written by David Coggeshall. John Cena stars as a CIA operative who reunites with childhood friends for a globe-spanning mission built around high-speed chases and toy-car motifs.

Apple's decision to send the film straight to streaming rather than theaters was deliberate, according to Collider. The company has had difficult experiences with theatrical releases — Argylle and Napoleon were costly box-office disappointments — and the direct-to-streaming route was seen as a way to sidestep that risk. The one exception to Apple's theatrical struggles has been F1, which performed well in cinemas.

The broader context is a Hollywood moment shaped by Barbie. That film grossed approximately $1.4 billion worldwide and prompted studios to invest heavily in other toy-brand properties, according to Collider. But the results have been uneven: this year's Masters of the Universe grossed around $120 million worldwide against a reported budget of $175 million in theaters, though it later found an audience on Prime Video.

For Cena, Matchbox represents arguably his biggest film as a lead, according to Collider. His credits include roles in the Fast & Furious franchise, Bumblebee, The Suicide Squad, its spin-off series Peacemaker, and the animation-live-action hybrid Coyote vs. Acme. He also had roles in both Barbie and Argylle — two films that sit at opposite ends of the toy-brand spectrum.

How the film sustains its chart position — and whether Apple TV+ can convert that momentum into a franchise — will be the measure of whether the streaming-first gamble has truly paid off. Audience reception details and longer-term performance data were still emerging.

Why it matters — Matchbox's fast rise to the top of Apple TV+'s global charts is an early test of whether streaming-first toy-brand films can succeed where theatrical releases have recently stumbled.

Reported by movieweb.com, collider.com