Ice Cube Explains Why His New Sci-Fi Movie Bombed With 4% on Rotten Tomatoes

Ice Cube’s new sci-fi film War of the Worlds has turned into one of the year’s biggest failures, earning just 4 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 6 out of 100 on Metacritic.

The movie, released on Amazon Prime Video in July, drew heavy criticism for its weak script, clumsy direction, awkward visuals, and constant product placement.

Reviewers didn’t hold back. Brian Tallerico from RogerEbert.com gave it zero stars and slammed the nonstop Amazon ads, calling them “truly morally icky.” Variety’s Peter Debruge wrote that it was a poor version of H. G. Wells’s story and said Ice Cube’s acting didn’t help.

NBC’s Austin Mullen called it one of the worst films of 2025. Rotten Tomatoes even added it to its “100 Worst Movies of All Time” list. Some reviewers, though, had a softer take. Kevin Nguyen of The Verge called it “so bad it’s good,” while Jordan Hoffman from Entertainment Weekly admitted, “It’s certainly stupid, but it’s also a great deal of fun.”

Talking to popular streamer Kai Cenat, Ice Cube explained why the film turned out the way it did. “War of the Worlds was shot in 15 days during the COVID pandemic,” he said. “The director wasn’t there… This was the only way we could shoot the movie.”

The project began back in 2020 when Universal gave the go-ahead to a “screenlife” version of Wells’s classic. This filmmaking style tells the story through computer screens and phone cameras.

Producer Timur Bekmambetov compared it to how Orson Welles once used radio to make his War of the Worlds broadcast feel real. Ice Cube joined as the lead, with Eva Longoria and others later added to the cast.

Shooting wrapped quickly, but post-production dragged on for two years. The film was originally meant for theaters, but Amazon later bought it. That deal reportedly led to the addition of an Amazon delivery character and a drone scene, both of which critics found ridiculous.

Ice Cube and Eva Longoria star in the official trailer for WAR OF THE WORLDS, a film by Rich Lee, premieres July 30 on Prime Video. pic.twitter.com/K2F9p1xm7m

— Movie Coverage (@MovieCoverage_) July 24, 2025

In the end, War of the Worlds was supposed to be a modern take on a sci-fi classic, but the rushed filming and heavy branding weighed it down. Ice Cube’s comments show how much the pandemic disrupted the project, but critics and viewers weren’t willing to excuse the final product.

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