Thescreescore – Michael Dowse’s latest directorial venture, The Stunt Driver, a Canadian comedy inspired by the 1981 documentary The Devil at Your Heels, has navigated a peculiar paradox: earning commendable critical praise while simultaneously crashing and burning at the domestic box office. Featuring Jay Baruchel as daredevil Ken Carter, alongside a notable ensemble including The Office‘s Ed Helms, Ben Foster, Jonathan Cherry, and Dan Bakkedahl, the film debuted to a respectable 76% on Rotten Tomatoes after its premiere at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. However, its theatrical opening on September 25 paints a starkly different and concerning picture of audience turnout.
Over its initial three-day run, The Stunt Driver managed to pull in a meager $102,000 across 670 theaters nationwide. This translates to an alarming per-screen average (PSA) of just $152, a figure that places it among the 15 lowest debut PSAs in cinematic history. It stands as the poorest performing new release of 2026 in terms of per-screen earnings, with only the 15th-anniversary re-release of 2011’s Bridesmaids registering an even lower $127 PSA this year. The film faced a crowded release schedule, competing against new entries like Avengers Endgame: Encore, Primetime, Heart of the Beast, and Forgotten Island.
While a limited theatrical distribution often correlates with lower overall grosses, The Stunt Driver‘s per-screen performance is particularly noteworthy for its dismal ranking. In 2026 alone, only a handful of new releases have found their way onto the ignominious list of the 100 lowest PSAs, including the Paris Hilton documentary Infinite Icon: A Visual Memoir, the animated Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass, the horror feature Night Patrol, and the Spanish animation Buffalo Kids. The Stunt Driver distinguishes itself by being the sole new release among these to fall within the Top 20 lowest debuts. This performance stands in sharp contrast to other niche films released this year, such as the Charli XCX mockumentary The Moment, which achieved an impressive $106,990 from just four theaters, or John Wilson’s The History of Concrete, which garnered $90,000 from a single screen. These examples highlight that even with minimal distribution, strong audience interest can translate into robust per-screen averages, a benchmark The Stunt Driver regrettably failed to meet.
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Despite this inauspicious theatrical start, a glimmer of hope remains for The Stunt Driver. Its positive critical reception and recognizable cast could potentially pave the way for a second life on video-on-demand or streaming platforms, where it might cultivate a slow-burn word-of-mouth following. For its principal stars, the path ahead is varied. Jay Baruchel recently withdrew from Reacher season 4 due to "a personal matter," leading to his role being recast. Conversely, Ben Foster is slated for a high-profile appearance opposite Jason Statham in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming action thriller Viva La Madness. Meanwhile, Ed Helms is set to co-star with Marisa Tomei and Rachel Zegler in the comedy She Gets It from Me, offering both actors opportunities for commercial redemption following The Stunt Driver‘s challenging theatrical debut.
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