MCU and Star Wars Icons Couldn't Save This Sci-Fi Bomb That's Heading to a New Streamer

MCU and Star Wars Icons Couldn't Save This Sci-Fi Bomb That's Heading to a New Streamer By  Rahul Malhotra Published 59 minutes ago Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema. 

Swing and a miss > measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him). Sign in to your Collider account follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

The last film that Michael Bay directed before entering the second stage of his career, which would be dominated by the Transformers franchise, was the 2005 sci-fi bomb The Island. Starring Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor, The Island opened to mixed reviews but failed to recover its costly budget. Bay went on to say that he could see the flop coming, and blamed the muddled marketing strategy for the film's failure. Two decades old now, The Island sticks out on Bay's resume — it isn't like some of his other original flops, which cost far less, nor is it like his Transformers duds. Plus, its reputation has only grown over the years, if nothing else. You can watch the film for yourself on December 1, when it debuts on the Paramount+ streaming service.

Retroactively a companion piece to Apple's excellent sci-fi series Silo, not to mention the likes of Severance and Snowpiercer, The Island followed a couple of unsuspecting citizens at an isolated compound, who plan an escape after learning that something sinister might be afoot. Produced on a reported budget of $126 million, the movie made just around $160 million worldwide. Worse, it couldn't even crack the $40 million mark domestically. It was in a 2007 interview with Collider that Bay spoke about the film's poor box office performance, which he attributed to a disappointing promotion strategy.

"I liked The Island, and it worked really well overseas. I knew it would never be a smash, because it's not that type of movie, and I continually have so many people that come up to me and say, 'God, that movie is so good.' But no one knew about it in America. You saw our poster campaign, we had a muddled campaign, I knew we were in trouble with that movie domestically like four months out."

Michael Bay Is Putting Together a Documentary as His Next Project

The Island movie opened to mixed reviews, and is now sitting at a 39% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics' consensus reads, "A clone of THX 1183, Coma, and Logan's Run, The Island is another loud and bombastic Michael Bay movie where explosions and chases matter more than characters, dialogue, or plot." Bay's last movie was Ambulance, which underperformed at the box office despite solid reviews. He's now putting together a documentary about a parkour group.

​​​​​​​You can watch The Island on Paramount+ beginning December 1, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

The Island

Like PG-13 Action Thriller Science Fiction Adventure Release Date July 21, 2005 Runtime 136 Minutes Director Michael Bay Writers Roberto Orci, Caspian Tredwell-Owen, Alex Kurtzman

Cast

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• Ewan McGregor
• Scarlett Johansson

Genres Action, Thriller, Science Fiction, Adventure Powered by Expand Collapse

• Movie News
• Michael Bay
• Scarlett Johansson

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