A creative voice behind last year's thrilling film "War of the Worlds" is sharing his thoughts on the movie's less-than-stellar critical reception. Timur Bekmambetov, the filmmaker behind 2008's "Wanted" and this year's Chris Pratt-led "Mercy," participated in a Reddit AMA on Thursday to promote "LifeHack," which he produced. Focusing on a crypto heist, director Ronan Corrigan's thriller hits theaters next week after premiering last year at SXSW.
Among the questions posed to Bekmambetov were multiple queries about his involvement in "War of the Worlds," which hit Prime Video in July and loosely adapted H.G. Wells' classic sci-fi novel about an alien invasion. Starring Ice Cube, Eva Longoria, and Clark Gregg, director Rich Lee's movie was critically panned and currently holds a dismal 4 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It also collected five of the six Razzie Awards for which it was nominated, including the dubious distinction of being named the worst picture of the year.
In response to a question about his feelings on working on the project, Bekmambetov wrote, "The criticism of 'War of the Worlds' didn't surprise me. I'll take three weeks at number one on Amazon Prime over a good review any day. Always have." Additionally, a different individual's question about the film - simply asking, "War of the Worlds — why?" - led Bekmambetov to quip, "LifeHack is my reparation for 'The War of the Worlds.'"
In September, Ice Cube explained to streamer Kai Cenat that the film dealt with production challenges, including shooting in 2020 amid the pandemic. The actor plays a surveillance expert who has a lot on his plate when aliens attack. "We shot it in 15 days, and it was during the pandemic," Ice Cube said at the time. "So the director wasn't in there. None of the actors was in there. This was the only way we could really shoot the movie."
