Tom Cruise’s Sci-Fi Hit Remade with Ice Cube — Opens to 0% on Rotten Tomatoes

The 2025 film War of the Worlds is a science fiction thriller that tries a fresh take on the classic story by H.G. Wells, originally published in 1898.

This new version is directed by Rich Lee, with a screenplay by Kenneth A. Golde and Marc Hyman, and stars Ice Cube alongside Eva Longoria, Clark Gregg, and others. The movie was released by Universal Pictures on Amazon Prime Video on July 30, 2025, but it quickly ran into major problems with critics and audiences.

The story follows Will Radford, played by Ice Cube, a Department of Homeland Security officer who works on a surveillance program monitoring people worldwide. While helping the FBI track down a hacker named “Disruptor,” meteors start hitting Earth, and huge alien machines emerge, attacking humans. Radford teams up with a NASA friend to figure out that the planet is under an alien invasion.

What makes this version different is that the entire movie is shown through screens and digital device, a style called “screenlife.” The idea was to bring the classic tale into the modern tech age. At first, Universal Pictures was interested in this idea, but as time went on, it seems they wished they hadn’t moved forward with the project.

Critics have been very harsh. The film currently holds a 0% approval rating from critics based on a small number of reviews, and only 12% of audiences have liked it so far, according to ratings collected on Rotten Tomatoes. While the number of critic reviews is still limited, it doesn’t look like the scores will improve much as more people watch and share their opinions.

The reviews say the movie is badly written and feels awkward in its pacing. Many people find it hard to stay engaged or entertained. The “screenlife” format, which could have been an interesting way to tell the story, instead makes the movie feel slow and difficult to follow. The overall feeling is that it not only fails as a fun sci-fi thriller but even struggles to work as a movie at all.

It’s noteworthy because of all the attempts to adapt this story, this is the worst one.

Joshua Tyler

Poorly written and awkwardly paced, War of the Worlds in contention for one of the worst movies of the decade so far.

Austin Burke

Told entirely through screens and digital devices, this “screenlife” thriller tries to bring H.G. Wells’ classic into the tech era, but not only fails at being entertaining, but fails at being a movie itself.

Patrick Beatty

Other than what could have been an interesting enough angle… the surrounding movie just sucks.

Jeremy Jahns

Failing to muster any meaningful suspense from its misguided gimmick, this reimagining of the classic H.G. Wells science-fiction saga becomes more ridiculous as it goes along.

Todd Jorgenson

Among all the adaptations of War of the Worlds over the years, this one is quickly becoming known as the worst. Viewers have found it rough to watch, and the movie doesn’t live up to expectations. What could have been a cool, new take on a well-loved story ended up disappointing almost everyone.

In short, this War of the Worlds remake tries to modernize a classic using technology but falls flat in almost every way, making it a candidate for one of the worst films of the decade so far.

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