Tom Cruise’s divisive sci-fi action blockbuster based on one of the best books in the genre is making a comeback, 21 years after it was first released. There are certain sci-fi books that every “true fan” needs to read at least once (or, at least, watch the movie of). Frank Herbert’s Dune, Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (or Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner), and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy (we advise the books over the Apple TV series). But one of the greatest of all time was published way back in 1898 and has been adapted several times. The 2025 version was mind-numbingly awful, but Tom Cruise’s action-packed adaptation was a major box office hit, and it’s finding renewed success on streaming.
Directed by none other than Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise’s War of the Worlds is streaming on HBO Max, and it’s currently climbing up the streamer’s charts. The film has been available to stream on the platform since 2023. But out of nowhere, it has made a resurgence, entering HBO’s US top 10. At the time of writing, War of the Worlds is the 10th most popular movie on HBO Max in America. Backrooms currently holds the top spot, with Supergirl in second, and the underrated action thriller, Fuze, in third.
‘War of the Worlds’ Was a Divisive Tom Cruise Hit
Tom Cruise rarely does sci-fi movies, but when he does, they make an impact. Edge of Tomorrow is easily his best film in the genre, while Minority Report has its fans. Even Oblivion, which divided critics back in 2013, hs now become a cult classic. War of the Worlds follows suit, as its box office haul directly opposes what audiences actually thought of the movie.
Not that the story needs much introduction, but War of the Worlds takes place during an alien invasion, where advanced beings from Mars have landed on Earth, seeking to conquer our planet, with little we can do to stop them. The film shows us the invasion from the perspective of Ray Ferrier, a dockworker, who must protect his edgy teenage son, Robbie (Justin Chatwin), and his incessantly squealing daughter, Rachel (Dakota Fanning). The movie grossed a staggering $603 million at the global box office. But that’s not to say that everybody enjoyed the film. It holds a decent 76% Rotten Tomatoes rating. However, its audience score is a contentious 42%. “The original will always be the best, but this is a decent adaptation,” wrote one user, while another slated the film, saying “Dumbest ending of all time” — even though the ending is very similar to the one found in the books.
‘War of the Worlds’ Got an Awful Reboot Last Year
If you’re one of the people who hated Tom Cruise’s War of the Worlds adaptation, then we recommend steering clear of Ice Cube’s 2025 movie. Released directly on Prime Video, the “movie” was shot during COVID, so it tried using the 100% virtual method. Ice Cube plays Will Radford, an analyst for Homeland Security who watches the alien invasion through a mass surveillance program. The movie is Ice Cube pretending to react to things on his screen for 89 minutes, and it’s even worse than Madame Web. It holds a 4% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
