We know Conor McGregor is the biggest star in the history of mixed martial arts, but it’s clear he’s also made quite a splash in film.
McGregor played the villain Knox in the recently released remake of the classic action film Road House on Amazon Prime. The Amazon MGM film drew over 50 million viewers on Prime during its first two weekends, making it the platform’s most-viewed film debut.
Jake Gyllenhaal was the leading man as he played Dalton, the role made famous by deceased legend Patrick Swayze. In my film review, I praised the Academy-Award-nominated actor for his portrayal of Dalton, but I wondered whose star power was the major driving force behind the movie’s massive popularity.
Considering the original was released 35 years ago, it’s not like the concept was at the forefront of the world’s mind.
The remake is still available for Amazon Prime Video subscribers.
I spoke with representatives from the social media listening firm ListenFirst. They provided some staggering numbers that prove McGregor’s social media presence was a significant component in driving engagement and awareness around the remake.
Per ListenFirst, from March 8 to 31, Road House earned a total of 11,349,331 engagements across 412 posts from the Prime Video brand (global), Amazon Studios, MGM Studios, title, genre, talent (the actors and actresses), and partner handles.
Prime Video’s 299 posts earned 1.97M engagements. That accounted for 17.4% of all engagements during the period.
The talent posted 73 times. Those posts earned 5.37M engagements. That number accounted for 49.8% of the engagements during the period.
McGregor published 30 of those posts, and his posts earned the highest volume of engagements across all brands. McGregor’s posts generated 39.4% of the engagements.
In contrast, Gyllenhaal published just three posts during the period that earned 616,915 engagements–5.4% of all engagements.
Going further, ListenFirst provided this table that even more articulates McGregor’s massive impact from a social media engagement standpoint.
Considering McGregor has headlined each of the UFC’s five events with the largest PPV buy rate and three of the promotion’s largest live gates, it’s safe to say he has established himself as one of the biggest needle-movers across multiple entertainment areas.
The success of the Road House remake will likely lead to more film opportunities for McGregor, though he says he is “unlikely” to take on another film role.
McGregor has been eyeing a return to the Octagon in 2024, but it’s a complicated situation. McGregor suffered a serious ankle injury during his 2021 loss to Dustin Poirier.
The 35-year-old has also reportedly earned more than $530 million during his career.
While there have been whispers to the contrary, the UFC’s performance-enhancing drug testing process doesn’t appear to be contributing to the delay.
According to Yahoo! Sports, McGregor has already been tested for PEDs four times in 2024.
If he does, he’ll likely bring an even bigger audience with him.