Jamie Foxx's 131-Minute 'Die Hard' Substitute Action Thriller Lands New Free Streaming Release

Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx is best known for his roles in movies like Django Unchained, Ray, and Any Given Sunday. And although some of his roles have required a display of his action chops, he’s not famous for his work in the genre. However, in 2013, he got pretty close to it while bringing to life the world’s most important leader in a film that has just arrived on free streaming. Move over, John McClane, you have some competition.

‘Die Hard’ Meets Washington’s Finest

In White House Down, the presidential home is the target of a domestic terrorist attack. John Cale (Channing Tatum) wishes to join the Secret Service, and on the day of his interview, he brings his daughter Emily with him. The problem is that masked gunmen storm the White House and take some visitors hostage, including Emily. Cale is inevitably tasked with protecting the President of the United States (Foxx), as the surviving members of the government plan a rescue mission to bring everyone to safety.

White House Down stars Foxx alongside Channing Tatum, Jason Clarke, James Woods, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Richard Jenkins, Joey King, and Lance Reddick, among others. It was directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow), and written by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, 2022’s Scream, Ready or Not). Even though some scenes in the film feel like they were shot at the real White House, for security reasons, the production took place quite far from the President’s residence. This may have contributed to the film’s heavy use of digital effects, with some of them feeling a bit outdated (especially the ones featuring aircraft flying over Washington, D.C.).

The White House Took Not One, But Two Hits in 2013

White House Down was released in June 2013 to mixed reviews from critics (it sits at 52% on Rotten Tomatoes). The film grossed $205 million, which seems like a good box office performance for a theatrically released action movie. However, the film’s significant production budget of $150 million was simply too high, and it didn’t make much of a profit for Sony Pictures. While it gets a bit absurd at times and some of the dialogue is not great, White House Down isn’t a bad action movie. Perhaps the problem with its reception wasn’t the film itself, but the fact that it was released months after another movie that was very, very similar.

Olympus Has Fallen cost less than half of what White House Down cost to make. It made $170 million at the box office, and had a more serious tone than Foxx’s action movie. Starring Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman, the film also follows a hero who must protect the president after terrorists storm the White House. Olympus Has Fallen sparked a whole new franchise with two successful sequels that saw Butler and Freeman reprising their roles.

Now, fans of the action genre have a new opportunity to revisit at least one of the two films that destroyed the safest home in the world in 2013, as White House Down is now streaming for free on Tubi.