TV - Movies
Why Jupiter
Ascending
Bombed At The
Box Office
By BRANDON SHOAFF
Considering the overwhelming popularity of the first "Matrix" film and its sequels, one might think that the Wachowskis could do no harm. However, their 2015 attempt at creating another memorable science fiction tale, “Jupiter Ascending,” bombed at the box office despite its impressive cast, grand setting, and stunning visuals.
Science-fiction movies can sometimes be a hard sell to the public, but many films that were failures in their own day, such as "Tron," "Blade Runner," and "Starship Troopers," have since become cult classics. "Jupiter Ascending" may be a recent candidate for sci-fi cult status, as its addition to streaming services has been garnering some attention.
“Jupiter Ascending” was released in 2015, which was certainly a hit-or-miss year regarding the success of movies. It saw films like “Furious 7” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” but it was also rather hard on sci-fi films; "Tomorrowland," "Terminator Genisys," and “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” all suffered at the box office.
Perhaps the most glaring reason why “Jupiter Ascending” failed to take off was its critical reception. It sits at an abysmal 38% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and film critics like Brent McKnight have ravaged it for its weak story and lack of thematic depth. James Croot of Stuff has described it as one of the worst science fiction movies of the 2010s.
Even the film’s actors have admitted that their experience with the movie was less than ideal. Channing Tatum once described it as “a sideways movie,” Eddie Redmayne called his acting in it “[a] pretty bad performance by all accounts,” and Mila Kunis chose to eat a cow tongue rather than explain the movie’s plot when she appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden.