Summary
In a spectacular example of a project failing despite being a sure shot on paper, a recent adaptation of legendaryGame of Thronesauthor George R.R. Martin isn’t faring so well at the box office, despite some serious added star power in the lead roles.
TheGame of Thronesbooks are Martin’s greatest literary accomplishment by common consensus, and that led not just the mainline books to be adapted by HBO (right up to an original, badly received end to the series), but also lit the path for spinoff projects similarly based off of Martin’s Game of Thrones adjacent works. However, this same appeal wouldn’t extend toIn The Lost Lands,which was picked up for a movie adaptation all the way back in 2015 before finally hitting theaters this year. Based instead on a short story from the Jessica Amanda Salmonson-edited fantasy anthologyAmazons II,In The Lost Landscomes from far more obscure fare. Because of this, many fans were left asking whatIn The Lost Landsis even aboutwhen first catching wind of the project.
Despite the lack of hype from not being related to Martin’s other work,In The Lost Landsdid have the advantage of starring actress Milla Jovovich andwrestler-turned-actor standout Dave Bautistain the lead roles. However, even those two big names were evidently not enough to get the film the sort of attention it deserved. In a report fromCollider, its noted that the film came in at #10 on the box office charts this past weekend with earnings of just about $1 million, barely beating out entries with far less popular leads and writers involved. Adding to the bad feeling around the release is the Rotten Tomatoes critic score for the film, which currently sits at 26% at time of writing. Notably, that marks an improvement from an earlier score of 17%. While the audience score is much higher than the critic score, that’s only as high as 45% at this time.
This outing at the box office is an unmitigated flop for the film, made all the more perplexing by the big names involved. Despite a relatively modest budget of just over $55 million, the film doesn’t seem like it’s on track to break even or make a profit, going off of its current performance. However, it’s hard to pin down what is wrong with the film in light of how many respondents like the source material but dislike the movie adaptation.In The Lost Landshas garnered mostly mixed to negative reviews, but original creatorMartin has had a ton of praise for the adaptationand hails it as having captured his voice better than any previous adaptation of his work. This is a pretty strong compliment from Martin, especially with the stellar adaptation done by some parts ofGame of ThronesandHouse of the Dragonon HBO. So it’s a mystery why critics have dismissedIn The Lost Landsas squandering the source material when the source of the material thinks it’s great.
While the film is off to a horrid start on all fronts, not all hope is lost just yet. It’s been said thatMartin is reportedly on board for a sequel film toIn The Lost Landsdespite the film’s box office performance and unwelcoming reception. If the award-winning author feels strongly enough about it, he could probably get a sequel in motion himself. It wouldn’t be the first underappreciated fantasy project that Martin has put his foot on the scale for, and the fans that did enjoy it will be pleased as punch.
In The Lost Landsis currently available in theaters in the United States.
