Ever since 2014’s Godzilla, Gareth Edwards has proved he’s the go-to director for studios looking to revitalize an old franchise. He successfully revived Star Wars with Rogue One, and most recently, he rebooted the Jurassic franchise with Jurassic World Rebirth. However, his original, non-franchise work has not attracted audiences in the same numbers.
The film in question was released in 2023 to a lackluster box office performance, which is unfortunate considering the ambitious scale of Edwards’ vision. The story is set in a future where an AI designed to protect humanity detonates a nuclear warhead over Los Angeles, leading to an all-out war between humans and machines. John David Washington stars as an ex-special forces operative tasked with finding a mysterious weapon created by AI that could end the war, only to discover that the weapon is actually a compassionate AI child.
The film is titled The Creator, which just became available on Netflix in most international markets this week. The response has been swift; according to FlixPatrol, the sci-fi epic has already entered Netflix’s Top 10 charts in 45+ countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It is currently not featured on Netflix’s U.S. charts because it is unavailable for streaming in America. The Creator was previously added to the U.S. Netflix library in March but was removed about a month ago, likely indicating it did not perform as well in the U.S.
‘The Creator’ Proved a Sci-Fi Epic Doesn’t Need a $200 Million Budget to Look Incredible
Part of what makesThe Creator‘sbelated streaming success so satisfying is what the film achieved on a relatively modest budget. Edwards produced the movie for between $80-$86 million. That’s less than half of what a film of this scale would typically cost. There are massive explosions, flying warships, and large armies of droids that wouldn’t look out of place in a Star Wars movie or evenCyberpunk 2077, and the little AI child has a visible hole in the back of her head in nearly every scene. However, none of it appears cheap or uncanny at any moment. In comparison,The Flash, released the same year with a $200 million budget, looked like a literal PS3 video game.
The Creator grossed just $104 million worldwide and was deemed a flop; it’s genuinely difficult to determine why it struggled as it did. Perhaps it was due to the generic plot that seemed derivative of other AI-versus-humanity films likeTerminator and<em>The Matrix</em>, and being an original film without built-in IP recognition likely hindered its ability to find an audience. Nevertheless, the visual effects work received widespread acclaim. Almost every review praisedThe Creator‘s CGI, and the film ultimately won Oscars for Best Visual Effects along with Best Sound.
The Creator is available for streaming onHulu. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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