Considering the popularity of Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley, it came as a shock that their sci-fi film Chaos Walking, ended up bombing critically and commercially. The 2021 movie had a lot going for it, and that starts with the lead actors. Holland was still shining as the MCU’s Spider-Man, ending 2021 with Spider-Man: No Way Home, which quickly pᴀssed $1 billion and more at the box office. Meanwhile, Ridley was fresh off her most famous role as Rey in the Star Wars franchise.
On top of the stellar lead actors, Chaos Walking also had a built-in fanbase as an adaptation of a popular book, 2008’s The Knife of Never Letting Go. The story takes place in a world with no women, where everyone can hear each other’s thoughts, and sees Todd (Holland) come across Viola (Ridley), who he runs away with. Despite having all the makings of a hit, Chaos Walking became a notorious flop.
Chaos Walking Was One Of The Most Anticipated Book-Movie Adaptations Of Recent Years
It Was Another In A Long Line Of Popular YA Adaptations
The Knife of Never Letting Go is the first book in the Chaos Walking series (a trilogy that also includes The Ask and the Answer and Monsters of Men). Along the same lines as The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games, this young adult series takes place in a dystopian world and became a hit with the target audience. Young adult novel adaptations aren’t always critical successes but they do tend to find success at the box office, so filmmakers were likely at least hopeful the movie would make money.
It had some lofty expectations to live up to during the best of times, but the release date coming during the COVID-19 pandemic meant it had an even more difficult road to success.
With the popularity of the books and the two lead actors, it’s no wonder the film was given a budget of around $125 million. That meant it had some lofty expectations to live up to during the best of times, but the release date coming during the COVID-19 pandemic meant it had an even more difficult road to success.
What Went Wrong With Chaos Walking
Reshoots & Criticized Writing Hurt It
Chaos Walking was initially slated for an early 2019 release, which meant it would’ve arrived while both Holland and Ridley were starring in their blockbuster franchises. However, a slew of reshoots meant that it had to be pushed back, which was further delayed due to the pandemic. The combination of it arriving after the poor response to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and hitting theaters during a time when people weren’t comfortable going to theaters doomed it to flop financially.
The aforementioned reshoots came because the film tested poorly, so there’s a chance that what we ultimately ended up with was actually an improvement. Unfortunately, the final product was lambasted by critics for various reasons. Among them was the screenwriting, which left audiences with underdeveloped lead characters that never really gave Holland and Ridley a chance to showcase any chemistry.
Even ScreenRant’s own review of the film was critical, saying “it’s messy and unimaginative, with its unwillingness to further deepen and engage with the backstory, themes, and character relationships holding back what could have been a decently enjoyable film.” Ultimately, Chaos Walking should’ve been a hit but reshoots, writing, and a poor release window helped doom it.
