Ryan Reynolds’ Fantasy Film IF With 51% Becomes a Netflix Streaming Hit 2 Years Later

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is currently enjoying a lot of success. Following a significant three-season deal, his two-year-old fantasy series, IF, is also starting to gain popularity on Netflix.

Ryan Reynolds had a successful 2024 with the blockbuster hit Deadpool & Wolverine. While his film IF didn’t perform well in theaters, it has since become popular on Netflix, proving that films can find an audience through streaming.

The show launched on the streaming service on April 9th and quickly climbed to second place by April 10th. However, it slipped slightly when the new shark movie, Thrash, became the number one hit.

This success builds on positive momentum from earlier this year, which is encouraging given the movie didn’t perform exceptionally well in theaters.

What Happens in IF?

As a huge movie fan, I was blown away by John Krasinski’s directing debut with A Quiet Place back in 2018 – it really launched him as a filmmaker, and now it’s a whole franchise! But what I find even cooler is that, being a dad himself – he and Emily Blunt have two daughters – he wanted to make something the whole family could enjoy. He basically wanted to create a film his kids could actually watch with him, which I think is awesome.

He created a film called IF, which stands for Imaginary Friends – he wrote, directed, and produced it himself. The movie centers around Bea, a 12-year-old girl who stays with her grandmother while her father recovers from surgery. Waiting for updates on his health causes Bea to remember her mother’s passing, and she begins to see the imaginary friends that children have outgrown.

Working together with Ryan Reynolds’ character, Calvin, they devise a plan to help the children remember their old imaginary friends.

IF Had an Underwhelming Reception

While the fantasy movie had a promising idea, critics didn’t love it. It currently has a 51% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 213 reviews. Luckily, audiences had a much better reaction, with 85% of viewers giving it a thumbs up, making it a popular choice for families.

Despite receiving good reviews, the movie IF wasn’t a financial success. It cost a hefty $110 million to make, but only earned $190.3 million worldwide. While it recouped some of its expenses, a film typically needs to earn about two-and-a-half times its budget to cover expenses like theater costs, advertising, and film prints.

A significant portion of the movie IF‘s budget went towards creating the visual effects for the Imaginary Friends, who came in all sorts of unique shapes, colors, and forms. The film also featured a cast of well-known actors.

The movie featured John Krasinski as the father and Ryan Reynolds as Cal, alongside Cailey Fleming as Bea and Fiona Shaw as her grandmother. Other cast members included Alan Kim, Liza Colón-Zayas, and Bobby Moynihan, as well as a notable group of stars like George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper, Bill Hader, Emily Blunt, Louis Gossett Jr., Sam Rockwell, Matthew Rhys, Maya Rudolph, and Richard Jenkins.

IF is streaming on Netflix.

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2026-04-11 21:06