What's Up With Ice Cube and Amazon's 'War of the Worlds' Remake?

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Did you know Ice Cube is starring in a new version of War of the Worlds? Neither did we, until we happened upon the bombastic trailer on Amazon Prime on Wednesday. Premiering on the streamer on July 30 with only the merest hint of pre-release publicity, the movie is so niche (and unexpected, in every way) that it didn't even have a Rotten Tomatoes page until two days after its debut. (At time of publishing, there is no critical consensus, as the reviews number only four. Nor is there any plot description, and the poster used belongs to the 1953 version.) So what's the story behind this surprise War of the Worlds reboot? More importantly, does it hold a candle to the other adaptations?
Is there a new version of War of the Worlds?
This new adaptation of War of the Worlds has very little in common with H.G. Wells' classic source material, or any other mainstream adaptation, for that matter. It's part of the 'screenlife' sub-subgenre, which is a variation on the found footage concept. Screenlife movies differ in that they take place entirely on computers, phones, or tablets; and unlike found footage, screenlife chronicles events as they happen rather than showing us edited video after the fact. This is produced by Timur Bekmambetov, the Russian director behind Nightwatch (2005) and Wanted (2008), who for the best part of 20 years has been experimenting with (essentially inventing) the screenlife genre. He's previously produced Unfriended (2015), Searching (2018), and Missing (2022), three of the genre's most well-done and well-remembered films; and he directed Profile (2018), a lesser-known but deeply unsettling thriller about a journalist wooed by a jihadist whom she's assigned to cover.
Bekmambetov does not direct this new War of the Worlds, instead passing the baton to music video helmer and 3D visualist Rich Lee, making his feature debut. On the merits of this picture, it'll probably be his last. War of the Worlds is by far the worst screenlife movie to date, a depressing and ceaseless experience even for those with a fondness for the genre. It stars Ice Cube, but one could argue that the chair on which he sits for the film's entire length is both more pivotal to the plot and a more compelling performer. Cube, it seems, agreed to appear in the movie only if his part could be shot entirely at his breakfast table on a single morning during the time it took him to consume a banana.What is War of the Worlds (2025) about?
The usually charismatic star plays Will, a bottom-rung government surveiler who has likely remained low on the totem pole due to how unabashedly corrupt he is. When we meet him, he's using his specialized skills to listen to the phone calls of teenage stoners and hack the security cameras of his local coffee shop, where he chastises his pregnant daughter for eating a muffin. A morning of actual work presents itself in the form of desperate entreaties from Dr. Sandra Salas (Eva Longoria), Will's NASA scientist friend, and FBI agent Sheila Jeffries (the brilliant Andrea Savage, unforgivably wasted). Strange things are coming from the sky, they tell him. Will's response? 'I don't watch the weather.' Seriously, it's the weirdest establishment of a lead character, perhaps in any film. Creepy towards his daughter? Check. Morally dubious? Check. Ambivalent about his job and the people whom he's supposed to protect? Checkedy check check check.
The rest of the movie, which runs for an unending 89 minutes, consists of shaky handheld footage showing flashes of dismal CGI as the robots invade Earth, seen entirely through Will's computer. Through it all, Cube reacts from the confines of his office chair, adequately matching the sheer terror of a man realizing the last ice cream sandwich has been eaten. In too many ways, this War of the Worlds resembles one of those Z-grade monster invasion flicks that used to pop up on Mystery Science Theater 3000. There are no real characters or arcs, just faces to which the film cuts back amidst endless stock footage of military people doing military things, like firing missiles and flying jets. Those films would often trot out a vaguely respectable star of the day, like Peter Graves or Robert Stack. Here, the former NWA member is bequeathed that dubious honor.
What's the story behind Ice Cube's War of the Worlds?
So how did this low-rent version of War of the Worlds come to be? Deadline reported on Sept. 24, 2020, that Bekmambetov had impressed Universal with a pitch for 'a grounded sci-fi film in the vein of District 9 that touches on themes of privacy versus surveillance' that could be shot fully remotely amidst the pandemic. The studio reportedly loved the concept, which would allow for 'a production that had the look of [a] commercial event film but at the budget of a contained thriller' and was excited that the movie would be 'a first of its kind at this scope.' It was fast-tracked and went into production within the next month.
Nowhere in any of the production notices—of which there are only two—is War of the Worlds mentioned. There was no public tie between the 'untitled Timur Bekmambetov project' and H.G. Wells' classic property until the trailer for this updated version dropped on July 24, along with an announcement that it would premiere on Prime Video in a week's time. In fact, there seems to be no news articles or even public mentions of the movie between an Oct. 19, 2020, article, also in Deadline, announcing Longoria's casting and the July 24, 2025, announcement.This might indicate that 2025's War of the Worlds only became a War of the Worlds movie late in the day. Perhaps realizing they had on their hands a barely-releasable stinker of epic proportions, and desperate to recoup five years of financial output, those in charge decided to slap the War of the Worlds title on 'untitled Timur Bekmambetov project' to boost interest.
How the movie made its way from Universal to Prime Video is unclear, but it's hard to imagine a film less fit for theatrical (or any) release. Certainly, the finished product bears no similarity to the subtle, satirical majesty of District 9. Nor does it possess anything approaching an incisive message, or even a clear thesis, about surveillance and privacy. It would seem, from an outsider's perspective, to be a complete duffer from all angles. And even Amazon is clearly embarrassed about the film. You'd think the streamer was trying to hide the movie entirely, were it not for the banner posters running rampant on the Prime Video homepage.
It's certainly interesting that its release is timed around the 20th anniversary of the Steven Spielberg adaptation and coincides with a new 4K restoration of the superior 1953 version (still the most impressive of the adaptations), which is currently making its way through cinemas nationwide, but are either of those sufficient reasons to release this strained franchise continuation?
Whether or not this began life as a War of the Worlds movie or not, this new version will go down in infamy as not only one of the worst Wells adaptations of all time but one of the worst movies ever made. The awfulness is so criminally cataclysmic that it almost begs to be seen, but it's probably more advisable to hold off and wait for the inevitable How Did This Get Made? episode. This is one of those instantly fascinating pop-culture curios that will become pet obsessions in certain corners of the internet. Certainly, it's a film about which you'd wish to read an entire book dissecting its creation. It's not worth watching, but it's definitely worth discussing.
Where can I watch War of the Worlds (2025)?What's Up With Ice Cube and Amazon's 'War of the Worlds' Remake? first appeared on Men's Journal on Aug 1, 2025
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