Jennifer Lawrence's Announced Sci-Fi Thriller Is A Chance At Redemption
Cooper Hood is the Associate Editor for all new movie releases, in theaters and on streaming. In addition to writing articles about these titles and upcoming releases, he also oversees content planning for each, ensuring that ScreenRant continues to cover major releases for months after their release.
He has written various reviews for ScreenRant that appear on Rotten Tomatoes, coordinated Oscars and San Diego Comic-Con coverage, appeared on CNN to talk about Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, and done select interviews with talent over the years.
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Jennifer Lawrence is getting a much-needed shot at redemption with a newly announced sci-fi thriller movie. The actress is no stranger to operating in science fiction worlds, with some of Lawrence's best movies coming from this genre. She previously tackled a young adult dystopian universe with The Hunger Games and became a shape-shifting mutant for multiple X-Men movies.
The success of these projects, paired with Lawrence's Oscar-nominated work, has made her one of Hollywood's most popular stars. As a result, she routinely adds new projects to her upcoming slate that fluctuate between prestige awards plays to major genre releases. The latest development gives her a fresh sci-fi thriller.
Lawrence has signed on to star in Zach Cregger's next movie. It's paired her with the acclaimed horror director behind Barbarian, Weapons, and 2026's Resident Evil. The new film is called The Flood and has been described as a sci-fi thriller about a space crew, but additional plot details have been kept under wraps.
Lawrence and Cregger are an exciting pairing, and expectations will be high for the original sci-fi movie to be a major hit given his hot streak and her stardom. The chance to work with the filmmaker is quite obviously a big reason why the star has boarded The Flood, but the opportunity to redeem herself after a previous sci-fi movie went awry also exists.
Jennifer Lawrence's Previous Sci-Fi Thriller Was A Major Misfire
A decade before tackling The Flood, Lawrence was tipped to headline another original sci-fi movie: Passengers. The 2016 feature from director Morten Tyldum paired the actress with Chris Pratt for a $100+ million space romance. They played two humans who wake up from hibernation aboard a transport ship with 90 years to go until reaching their destination.
Lawrence and Pratt were among Hollywood's most in-demand stars at the time, with her done with the Hunger Games quadrilogy and him riding high after Jurassic World's massive success. Tyldum was fresh off an Oscar nomination for directing The Imitation Game, too. Sony put the film in theaters in December 2016 expecting it to be a critical and financial smash hit.
But that is far from what happened. Passengers' story proved to be controversial, which is just part of the reason critics responded negatively to it. It currently has a 30% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences also largely rejected the film, which made only $100 million domestically and $303 million worldwide.
Its reported $110 million budget means Passengers did enough to possibly break even, but the total was still far lower than expected given Lawrence and Pratt's status at the time. The movie proved to be such a misfire that Lawrence regrets making it, later telling Vogue, "I’m disappointed in myself" for not catching the film's controversial elements.
The Flood Gives Jennifer Lawrence Another Shot At An Original Sci-Fi Hit
After everything that went wrong with Passengers, Lawrence unofficially took a break from pursuing hard sci-fi movies. She chose to come back for a final X-Men appearance and did Adam McKay's sci-fi-adjacent feature Don't Look Up, but otherwise she's looked at dramas, comedies, and thrillers to keep her schedule busy.
The Flood changes that. It will be great to see Lawrence back in the sci-fi genre and how her on-screen talents pair with Cregger's vision. He has already proven to be a name that moviegoers will venture to theaters to see what he's done next. That helps give The Flood a baseline level of interest that would help turn it into a success almost regardless of who the star was.
But with Lawrence at the center of the sci-fi movie, she can help elevate it further. Her recent films haven't been box office hits, but they also weren't in genres that traditionally do well anymore. Jennifer Lawrence is still undeniably a popular actress, and that should be proven again with her sci-fi return in The Flood.
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