Netflix subscribers have until August 1, 2026, to watch A Million Ways to Die in the West, Seth MacFarlane’s widely panned Western comedy, before it exits the platform as part of a wave of more than 40 titles departing that day, according to Men’s Journal.
A Troubled Legacy
Released in 2014, the film has spent over a decade as something of a punching bag among critics. It holds just a 33% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from more than 200 reviews, alongside a middling 44 out of 100 on Metacritic, both indicating largely negative critical reception, per Wikipedia. Rotten Tomatoes’ critical consensus describes the film in part as a disappointingly scattershot affair, according to the site’s official review page. Collider’s Matt Goldberg offered a similar assessment in his original review, noting that MacFarlane can be incisive with his humor when he wants to be, but suggesting the film needed more than a central romance to carry it, as reported by Collider.
Commercially, the film also struggled to match expectations. It grossed just under $90 million worldwide against a reported $40 million budget, a comparatively soft result given MacFarlane’s prior box office success with Ted two years earlier.
The Story Behind the Satire
The film follows Albert Stark, a cowardly Arizona sheep farmer who backs out of a gunfight and is promptly dumped by his girlfriend, Louise, for the town’s wealthiest businessman. His fortunes shift when Anna, a sharp-shooting newcomer, helps him rediscover his courage — setting up a final showdown when Anna’s outlaw husband arrives seeking revenge, according to a plot summary from TinyGrab. MacFarlane has described the project as a deliberate parody of the genre’s classic tropes rather than an attempt at a historically accurate Western.
A Star-Studded Misfire
Despite its reception, the film assembled an ensemble cast rarely seen in a comedy: MacFarlane starred alongside Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris, Liam Neeson, Giovanni Ribisi, and Sarah Silverman, with several critics singling out Theron’s performance as one of the film’s stronger elements even amid the broader mixed reviews.
Joining a Long Exit List
A Million Ways to Die in the West won’t be the only notable departure on August 1. Netflix is also removing Borat, Ex Machina, Single White Female, and Fletch the same day, part of the platform’s routine monthly licensing turnover, per What’s on Netflix. Netflix has been the only major streaming platform carrying the film in recent months, meaning its removal will leave the movie available only through digital purchase or rental once it’s gone.
Still Available Elsewhere
Once it leaves Netflix, the film will remain accessible for digital purchase or rental on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Fandango at Home, and Google Play Movies, giving fans of MacFarlane’s brand of comedy a way to revisit it after its exit.
For a film that’s spent over a decade being cited as one of the more disappointing outings from a major comedy voice, its continued presence in the cultural conversation — including a semi-viral 2026 admission from director Edgar Wright that he privately celebrated its box office failure — suggests A Million Ways to Die in the West remains more talked-about than its reviews might otherwise suggest.
