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Posted in: Movies, Prime | Tagged: Ice Cube, prime video, war of the worlds
Ice Cube Breaks Down the Production Process for War of the Worlds
Ice Cube says War of the Worlds was filmed in 15 days during the pandemic with everyone remote, which is why the invasion unfolds on screens.
Article Summary
- Ice Cube reveals War of the Worlds was filmed remotely in 15 days during the pandemic lockdown.
- The film’s “screenlife” format comes from necessity, with action unfolding only on screens and devices.
- Negative reviews hit the War of the Worlds adaptation, criticizing its unique style and product placement.
- Pandemic context explains the movie’s digital angle and unconventional War of the Worlds invasion style.
When the new War of the Worlds film dropped, it arrived to a massive wave of negative reviews and social media pile-ons, quickly becoming one of the year's most talked-about misfires. Critics and audiences specifically slammed the straight-to-streaming film's "screenlife" presentation (its core style) and oddly heavy product placement, while early review scores briefly dipped to the rare 0% range before barely inching up. And even though it's not an ideal reputation, at the very least, its creative team can say that it definitely managed to generate conversations.
Now, while addressing its negative reception on a Kai Cenat live stream, War of the Worlds star Ice Cube went into detail about what made the film's production process a little more complicated than he anticipated.
Ice Cube on Filming War of the Worlds
The actor explains, "This is a movie I did in 2020 during the pandemic, five years ago. We shot it in 15 days, and it was during the pandemic. So, the director wasn't in there, none of the actors was in there. This was the only way we could really shoot the movie. It's pandemic time. That's why it's only the computer screen." He then goes on to defend its story, adding, "But really, if shit went down, everybody would only have their screen to look at."
That production reality matches the film's design. Directed by Rich Lee and produced with Timur Bekmambetov's screenlife approach, the movie plays out entirely through laptops and phones. Ice Cube stars as Will Radford, a Homeland Security "threat assessment" expert watching an invasion unfold through digital feeds, with Eva Longoria, Clark Gregg, Iman Benson, Henry Hunter Hall, and Devon Bostick among the key players.
Plot-wise, this version switches out classic spectacle for a surveillance-age angle. Meteors hit, towering machines emerge, and swarms target global data hubs, while Radford tries to protect family members he's used to monitoring rather than trusting. Whether that pandemic-era context from its leading actor softens opinions is up to viewers, but it does explain why this invasion looks and moves the way it does.
The latest adaptation of War of the Worlds is available to stream exclusively via Prime Video.
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