Foreshadowing Liam Neeson’s unlikely pivot from stately thespian to action hero, 1990’s Darkman had topped the U.S. box office, grossed more than three times its $14 million budget, and become a regular fixture on cable TV. So the Fox network no doubt believed its follow-up — even if it had bypassed cinemas and headed straight to VHS — would at least provide some healthy competition for the 1998 MLB All-Star Game screened by NBC. Instead, it achieved not just one but two all-time ratings lows.
Darkman II: The Return of Durant premiered on television almost three years to the day it first hit video rental stores — interestingly Blockbuster, who’d been integral in the original’s rental success, had practically begged Universal to make a sequel. Yet by posting a disastrous 2.8 rating and 5 share, it ended up breaking Fox’s records for worst ever performance for both a film and a Tuesday night. Its catastrophic prime time showing, however, doesn’t quite reflect its quality.
