# Exit Wounds
**Exit Wounds** is a 2001 American action film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, starring [Steven Seagal](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-seagal) as Detroit police detective Orin Boyd and the rapper [DMX](https://www.edgepedia.org/dmx) as the crime lord Latrell Walker, who join forces against a ring of corrupt cops.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds) Produced by Joel Silver for Warner Bros. Pictures, it opened at number one at the North American box office in March 2001 and grossed $51,758,599 domestically, briefly reviving Seagal's theatrical career.[2](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-91289547-OPP-4.pdf) • [3](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/story?id=108084&page=1)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | March 16, 2001, wide, Warner Bros.; opened at No. 1 with an estimated $19 million[2](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-91289547-OPP-4.pdf) • [3](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/story?id=108084&page=1) |
| Domestic gross | $51,758,599 on 2,830 theaters[2](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-91289547-OPP-4.pdf) |
| Director / producers | Andrzej Bartkowiak; Joel Silver and Dan Cracchiolo[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds) |
| Writers | Ed Horowitz, Richard D'Ovidio, and John Westermann[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds) |
| Cast | Steven Seagal, DMX, Isaiah Washington, Anthony Anderson, Michael Jai White, Bill Duke, Jill Hennessy, Tom Arnold, and Eva Mendes[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds) • [4](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/exit-wounds/umc.cmc.1qlq0m9waqgqep32xiudjzsmu) |
| Critical reception | 35% Tomatometer from 63 reviews; 45% Popcornmeter; Metascore 39; IMDb 5.6/10 from about 38,000 votes[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242445) |
| Rating and runtime | R (strong violence, language, some sexuality/nudity); BBFC cinema version 101m 15s, home entertainment version 97m[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds) • [6](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/exit-wounds-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmzaznjm) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
The story follows Orin Boyd, a maverick Detroit detective whose take-no-prisoners approach to domestic terrorism gets him reassigned to the city's toughest precinct.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds) There, fifty kilos of heroin have disappeared from the property vaults, and Boyd stumbles on an inside drug operation run by detectives.[4](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/exit-wounds/umc.cmc.1qlq0m9waqgqep32xiudjzsmu) The one person who can help him uncover the truth is not a cop but the gangster Latrell Walker, played by DMX, whose dicey connections and seemingly unlimited cash make him everyone's target; the gangster, in the film's setup, is not what he seems.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds) • [4](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/exit-wounds/umc.cmc.1qlq0m9waqgqep32xiudjzsmu) Together the two men take on a conspiracy that reaches through the ranks to the heart of the precinct.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds)
The supporting cast includes [Isaiah Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/isaiah-washington) as George, Anthony Anderson as T.K., Michael Jai White as Strutt, Bill Duke as Hinges, Jill Hennessy as Annette Mulcahy, Tom Arnold as Henry, Bruce McGill as Frank Daniels, and [Eva Mendes](https://www.edgepedia.org/eva-mendes) as Trish.[4](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/exit-wounds/umc.cmc.1qlq0m9waqgqep32xiudjzsmu)
## Production
**A Romeo Must Die reunion.** The film reunited many of the players from the previous year's [Jet Li](https://www.edgepedia.org/jet-li) film *Romeo Must Die*, including producer [Joel Silver](https://www.edgepedia.org/joel-silver), director Andrzej Bartkowiak, and supporting actors DMX and Isaiah Washington.[3](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/story?id=108084&page=1) Silver's production companies Silver Pictures, Village Roadshow Entertainment, and NPV Entertainment produced, with [Warner Bros. Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/warner-bros-pictures) distributing.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds)
**Seagal's comeback shot.** Seagal was nearing 50, considered old for an action hero, when Warner Bros. gave him the comeback role; he was slimmed down and appeared without his ponytail for the filming in Toronto in August 2000.[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jul-12-et-seagal12-story.html) The film's plot device of a cop confronting domestic terrorism predates the [September 11 attacks](https://www.edgepedia.org/september-11-attacks): it was filmed in 2000 and released in March 2001.[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jul-12-et-seagal12-story.html) • [3](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/story?id=108084&page=1)
**Martial arts style.** Because the wire-assisted stunts had been counted among *Romeo Must Die*'s contributions to its success, the production team included Dion Lam, a member of [Yuen Woo-ping](https://www.edgepedia.org/yuen-woo-ping)'s fight choreography team, as martial arts expert.[8](https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/13908/1/438545.pdf) This entailed Seagal moving away from his usual Aikido-based style toward the wire-work kung fu style then associated with screen martial arts through *The Matrix* and *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* (2000); in Lam's words, "we got Steven doing some stuff he hadn't done before," including wire work and high kicks for the camera.[8](https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/13908/1/438545.pdf)
## Box office
The Warner Bros. film opened at No. 1 with an estimated $19 million, beating the previous week's leader *The Mexican* and the newcomer *Enemy at the Gates*, and surpassing the debut of Seagal's previous best opener, *Under Siege* (1992), which had opened with $14 million.[3](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/story?id=108084&page=1) Warner Bros. distribution president Dan Fellman said the film played well with Black audiences, helped by rap star DMX, who contributed a remake of "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone" featured prominently in the promotion; the studio also reported that women turned out in high numbers.[3](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/story?id=108084&page=1) The opening marked the sixth consecutive No. 1 for producer Joel Silver.[3](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/story?id=108084&page=1)
Domestic receipts totaled $51,758,599, ranking 49th among 2001's domestic releases, against a production budget the scholarly literature puts at $33 million.[2](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-91289547-OPP-4.pdf) • [9](https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/gdc/gdcebookspublic/20/19/66/73/29/2019667329/2019667329.pdf) A scholarly account of Seagal's career gives a higher U.S. box office figure of 80 million dollars for the film; the [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) domestic total of $51.8 million is the figure reported by the trade ranking.[9](https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/gdc/gdcebookspublic/20/19/66/73/29/2019667329/2019667329.pdf) • [2](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-91289547-OPP-4.pdf) The same scholarly account treats *Exit Wounds* and *Half Past Dead* (2002) as the point at which Seagal's theatrical box office career ended, after which he starred in films released for rental video, DVD, and Blu-ray.[9](https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/gdc/gdcebookspublic/20/19/66/73/29/2019667329/2019667329.pdf)
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 35% Tomatometer from 63 reviews and a 45% Popcornmeter audience score from more than 50,000 ratings.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds) The site's critics consensus states that the film is loaded with plotholes and bad dialogue, and that critics note Seagal has aged rather badly.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds) On IMDb it rates 5.6/10 from about 38,000 users with a Metascore of 39, and received four nominations.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242445)
Some reviewers were more positive. Simon Braund of *Empire Magazine* wrote that via a combination of undeniably smart action moves and a hitherto absent sense of stoic self-deprecation, Seagal was once again back on form.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds) A Georgia Tech student paper judged everything in the film above average for an action movie, crediting *Matrix* producer Joel Silver.[10](https://repository.gatech.edu/bitstreams/534b4949-aa65-49e3-aa9a-81057ff51467/download) Reviewers also singled out the end credits, which feature off-color banter between [Anthony Anderson](https://www.edgepedia.org/anthony-anderson) and Tom Arnold on the latter's ostensible talk show.[11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242445/criticreviews/) Retrospective audience commentary has been kinder than the original critical reception; one critic writing in 2020 called it possibly the last time a Steven Seagal movie felt like a real movie.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds)
## Censorship and home media
The [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification) passed the cinema version, 101m 15s, on March 22, 2001, with strong violence and coarse language; its content advice notes people shot, stabbed, and impaled, hand-to-hand combat, occasional strong language, topless dancing at a strip club, and visual and verbal references to heroin.[6](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/exit-wounds-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmzaznjm) A shorter home entertainment version of 97m was classified in September 2001, and a further 97m 2s version for physical media and VOD/streaming in March 2002.[6](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/exit-wounds-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmzaznjm) [Home video](https://www.edgepedia.org/home-video) extras classified by the BBFC include a DMX music video, a making-of featurette, and "A Day On The Set With Anthony Anderson".[6](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/exit-wounds-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmzaznjm)
The film is not currently on a subscription streaming service in the United States or the United Kingdom; it can be bought or rented digitally on Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, and Fandango At Home, and on disc on DVD and Blu-ray.[12](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/exit-wounds) In Canada it streams on Crave Amazon Channel, and it is available on Prime Video in Australia and New Zealand and on Max in Japan.[13](https://www.flickfinder.net/movie/exit-wounds-2001-10877)
## References
1. [Exit Wounds, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/exit_wounds)
2. [Domestic Box Office For 2001, Box Office Mojo](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-91289547-OPP-4.pdf)
3. [Box Office: Seagal Back on Top With Exit, ABC News (March 19, 2001)](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/story?id=108084&page=1)
4. [Exit Wounds, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/exit-wounds/umc.cmc.1qlq0m9waqgqep32xiudjzsmu)
5. [Exit Wounds (2001), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242445)
6. [Exit Wounds, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/exit-wounds-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmzaznjm)
7. [When Life Imitates a B-Movie, Los Angeles Times (July 12, 2002)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jul-12-et-seagal12-story.html)
8. [Martial arts on US screens in the 21st century, University of Nottingham thesis](https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/13908/1/438545.pdf)
9. [Cultural Studies and the Un/Popular (chapter on Steven Seagal), Library of Congress copy](https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/gdc/gdcebookspublic/20/19/66/73/29/2019667329/2019667329.pdf)
10. [Entertainment, Technique (Georgia Tech), March 23, 2001](https://repository.gatech.edu/bitstreams/534b4949-aa65-49e3-aa9a-81057ff51467/download)
11. [Exit Wounds Metacritic critic reviews, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242445/criticreviews/)
12. [Exit Wounds streaming: where to watch online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/exit-wounds)
13. [Where to watch Exit Wounds (2001), FlickFinder](https://www.flickfinder.net/movie/exit-wounds-2001-10877)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Action thrillers, 2000s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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