Countless movies are released every year, not all of which become massive successes. Sometimes, we aren’t even aware of the flops. A sci-fi film featuring a star from Star Wars aimed to be a success and even postponed its release. But that didn’t help, and it flopped anyway.
Which film are we talking about? In 2023, 65 was released. Scott Beck and Bryan Woods directed it. They are mainly known for the screenplay and production of The Quiet Place. 65 is from Sony, and with Adam Driver as the main actor, it features a familiar face that most likely comes from Star Wars.
Mills is an astronaut who takes on a two-year space mission to raise money for the treatment of his sick daughter. During his mission, an asteroid crash occurs, leading him to land on a wild planet teeming with dinosaurs. But he isn’t the only human there.
Despite the interesting survival premise and a well-known face, the film, which was relatively inexpensive, flopped. This was mainly due to Sony itself, which made several mistakes.
You can see a trailer for the film here:
Postponed from one wrong time to the next
How did 65 perform? According to Screen Rant, 65 cost only $45 million. The film was mainly shot in Louisiana, allowing it to secure subsidies. Despite the low budget, the film only barely managed to gross $60 million. For such a cheap film, that’s a pretty poor result.
Why did the film flop? One can assume that Sony lost confidence in the film early on. Apart from trailers and posters, there was hardly any advertising for 65. Sony likely did not want to invest if they didn’t expect much in return. For a new film without an existing franchise, that alone is a death sentence.
Additionally, the release timing was poor. The film was originally supposed to be released in April 2022 (via Deadline). However, this was ultimately postponed by almost a whole year. Presumably, Sony wanted to avoid competition from Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
But the new timing was even worse. Creed 3 and Scream 6 were released, both part of established franchises. Both films were extremely successful. Creed 3 grossed over $275 million with a budget of $75 million (via Box Office Mojo), and Scream 6 grossed over $166 million with a budget of $35 million (via Box Office Mojo).
Such a poor starting situation cannot be salvaged even by Adam Driver, who mostly works on smaller projects aside from Star Wars.
The film also failed with critics and viewers who saw it. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a poor rating of only 36% from 127 reviews. Audiences were a bit more forgiving, giving the film a rating of 64% based on over 1000 reviews.
Due to the apparent lack of faith and the poor timing, 65 became a sci-fi film that few have seen. However, with its release on Netflix in the USA, the film did manage to attract new viewers. Whether the film will become a hidden gem in the future, considering its poor to mediocre reviews, remains questionable. Speed Racer managed to do it: An anime adaptation from the creators of Matrix cost $120 million – The film flopped but became a cult classic
