It was a big hit with critics and sits at a 87% “fresh” approval score on Rotten Tomatoes, but had an extremely quiet and short shelf life at the box office. “The Toxic Avenger” slid in and out of theaters over the course of a few weeks, but those who missed it on the big screen can watch it on demand and via other digital mediums on September 30, 2025. As of this writing, there’s no word yet on a physical home video release for the film.

This low-budget remake stars Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze, a janitor who ends up being exposed to toxic waste which transforms him into the titular superhero. His mission? To save his son, get revenge on the Garbanger family (played by Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood) for their wicked, environment-destroying ways, and maybe put his whole family back together. In spite of attempts at getting the movie some grassroots attention, however, Toxie took a box office tumble. But the original film was never a huge hit at the box office either.

While this version of “The Toxic Avenger” didn’t make a big splash at the box office, only making $3.2 million worldwide, the entire phalanx of original Toxie films weren’t big hits, either. The original “Toxic Avenger” was huge on video, but it made next to nothing at the box office, opening on only 45 screens. The sequels — “The Toxic Avenger Part II,” and “The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie” – both came out in 1989 and made $792,966 and $363,561 respectively. 

On cable and through video rentals, however, the trilogy gained enough popularity to spawn a kid-friendly Fox animated series called “The Toxic Crusaders,” another direct-to-video production called “Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger Part IV,” an off-Broadway musical, and another animated film called “Mr. Melvin.”  It looks like Toxie will be all right in the end, in spite of his hard luck at the ticket counter.