Henry Cavill and James Franco’s 2006 film Tristan & Isolde was a box office abomination but netizens feel it deserved better.

Actor Henry Cavill became a household name thanks to his performance as Superman in the DCEU and Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher. However, years before finding success and pop culture reverence, Cavill was featured in a box-office bomb alongside James Franco, with the film dooming its production company.

Before Man of Steel, Henry Cavill starred in Tristan & Isolde (Credit: Warner Bros).

On social media, fans remembered the movie Tristan & Isolde, starring Cavill and Franco. However, some fans argued that the film wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be because of its financial failure and aftermath. Here is what fans had to say about the 2006 film, why it flopped, and how it resulted in the shutting down of the production company behind it.

Netizens Remember Henry Cavill and James Franco’s 2006 Box-office Flop Tristan & Isolde

Tristan & Isolde was released on April 21, 2006, almost eighteen years ago. It is based on the medieval romantic legend of Tristan and Iseult. The film was directed by Kevin Reynolds and produced by Ridley Scott, who has a proven track record of making historical films.

Netizens feel Tristan & Isolde deserved better (Credit: 20th Century Fox).

Starring James Franco as Tristian and Henry Cavill in the supporting role of Melot, the film failed to impress the critics. It currently holds an approval rating of 32% on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. However, the audience rating sits at a respectable 71%.

On Reddit, film aficionados examined Tristan & Isolde and shared their thoughts on the epic romantic drama. In line with the film’s audience rating, the retrospective reactions were slightly more positive, suggesting the film deserved to fare better.

It was a guilty pleasure. Franco was beautiful but not a very good actor in this.

One user made the above comment, remembering the film to be better than what the poor reviews and box office performance portray it to be.

Similarly, other users also shared what they liked about the movie. One user stated, “God I loved this movie so much in middle school/high school.” Another user wrote “Literally one of my favourite films, James Franco aside.” As a result, it is evident that fans primarily found Franco miscast in the movie, but enjoyed the overall product.

Tristan & Isolde‘s Was One of Franchise Pictures’s Last Movies Before Bankruptcy

Tristan & Isolde opened with a $6.5 million collection on its first weekend. However, the film ended its box office run grossing merely $28.04 million globally. As a result, the film was deemed a financial failure. However, it also proved to be one of the final films released by Franchise Pictures.

Tristan & Isolde was a box office bomb grossing only $28.04 million (Credit: 20th Century Fox).

According to a report, the production company had inflated the budget of its 2000 sci-fi film Battlefield Earth. As a result, a lawsuit was filed against the company, which it eventually lost. Therefore, Franchise Pictures has to file for bankruptcy. Furthermore, the failure of its most recent outings of the time also did not help the company climb out of the dire situation.

Even though Tristan & Isolde wasn’t directly responsible for the bankruptcy of Franchise Pictures, its box office failure, and the company’s financial woes almost coincided. As a result, the historical romance film is primarily remembered for the company’s maligned shutdown. Hence, it is nice to see the film receive some much-deserved recognition on the internet.