Only two years after the ambitious film Tron undperformed at the box office, star Jeff Bridges headlined another sci-fi film destined for cult success. The movie Starman marked a creative departure for director John Carpenter, and debuted to positive reviews in 1984; Bridges was even nominated in the Best Actor category at the Oscars for his performance as an alien stranded on Earth. However, Starman didn’t do very well at the box office. It has since become something of a cult hit, as can be seen from its recent success on streaming. According to FlixPatrol, Starman was among the most-watched movies domestically on the free Tubi streaming service, along with Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Conan the Barbarian, and Romancing the Stone.

Also featuring Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull star Karen Allen, the movie cost around $25 million to produce but made only around $28 million at the worldwide box office. Starman opened to encouraging reviews, and is now sitting at a “certified fresh” 83% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus reads, “Starman initially begins as an offbeat sci-fi adventure, but transforms into a surprisingly sweet drama, courtesy of Jeff Bridges’ disarming performance and John Carpenter’s careful direction.” The movie received special praise for its warm tone and Jack Nitszche‘s original score. Incidentally, Starman was released in the same week as two other sci-fi flops — David Lynch‘s Dune, which made $37 million worldwide, and 2010: The Year We Make Contact, the sequel to Stanley Kubrick‘s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Jeff Bridges Appeared in Another Sci-Fi Bomb This Year

Bridges is no stranger to cult success. A decade after Starman, he headlined the Coen Brothers’ comedy The Big Lebowski, and a couple of decades after that, he appeared in Joseph Kosinski‘s Tron: Legacy. More recently, he reprised his role as Kevin Flynn in Tron: Ares. The movie tanked at the box office, and earned mixed reviews. Starring Jared Leto, the film abandoned the elements that made Tron: Legacy a fan-favorite, and grossed just $142 million worldwide against a reported budget of $220 million.

You can watch Starman at home, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.