A Look Back at a Big Budget Flop
If you haven't heard, Geostorm - that 2017 movie with Gerard Butler saving the world from climate change gone rogue? Well, it's kinda a cult classic for all the wrong reasons. It might've looked amazing on paper - disaster Movies, Satellites, global warming, it had it all, right? But when it came to actual impact? Yeah, it was a big flop in both reviews and profits.
The guy behind it all - Dean Devlin, who worked with Roland Emmerich on classics like "Independence Day" - talks candidly about the movie. He says that the movie basically got hijacked while they were filming - someone else came in to rewrite 60% of it and then they reshot most of the action sequences. Oof! And it sounds like those rewrites kinda killed it. And by kinda, I mean, a 18% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
When Satellites Meet Disaster (and Bad Movie Magic)
Think of all those amazing disaster Movies, like "Deepwater Horizon" and "The Finest Hours". Yeah, they got some pretty good reviews but no one went to the theater, you know? Turns out, in a world that's already dealing with some real scary disaster movies happening every day, Hollywood couldn't really get audiences pumped about climate-control satellites blowing up in theaters. Especially when those bad effects in Geostorm made it kinda funny - and in a bad way.
But what’s interesting about Geostorm's legacy is that those intentionally wacky movies like "Sharknado" got the audiences back! Who doesn’t like watching those campy monster movies?
Gerard Butler's Disaster-Movie Rescue Mission
Well, it looks like the whole world is obsessed with apocalyptic disaster movies, as far as Gerard Butler is concerned! And you know what? It’s totally worked in his favor! If you haven’t seen “Greenland” it’s about a meteor apocalypse. Yeah, he basically saves his family from death from space rock! Pretty insane! And guess what? It made a ton of cash and everyone said it was way better than Geostorm, not to mention "Greenland: Migration" is about to hit the screen.
It kinda looks like, as an actor, Gerard Butler figured out how to tap into the audience's interest for all things catastrophic. Let’s be honest, maybe "Geostorm" wasn’t meant to be; the entire thing kind of went off the rails. And maybe everyone would love to see an original "director's cut" of Geostorm, to actually see what Dean Devlin intended, but those plans have to take a back seat. With “Greenland”, he seems to be in a good spot to bounce back in the Disaster Movie world and it sounds like it could turn into a great franchise.
Disaster Movies – An Ongoing Trend in Hollywood
It seems like those apocalyptic and disaster-themed movies are always there and just need some good directing, great stories, and that spark of magic that only Gerard Butler has, for that winning recipe. The "Geostorm" story reminds us that it's tough to create something that really captures our imagination. And a big movie needs a big story and great execution.
What’s exciting to watch in the coming years is what happens next! The pandemic put the kibosh on a lot of movies being made and released, but it seems like these blockbuster genre movies are making a big comeback. You never know, with a few good storylines, great CGI, and that Hollywood charm we all know and love, the future of the disaster movie could be bright. And maybe Dean Devlin's ideas will still come true, you never know what they will dream up next in Hollywood.
