Ice Cube addresses War of the Worlds‘ poor reception after the film flopped with audiences and critics. Directed by Rich Lee, the latest adaptation of the iconic H.G Wells story hit Prime Video at the end of July, depicting an alien invasion from the perspective of various computer screens.

2025’s War of the Worlds was lambasted by critics for its poor storytelling, obtrusive product placement, and laugh-worthy performances, with Ice Cube in particularly emerging as a focus of the criticism. These elements also, however, helped the film go viral, and it ended up being a viewership hit.

During a recent appearance on a Kai Cenat livestream, Ice Cube shares his thoughts on War of the Worlds‘ reception, defending the film as a product of COVID-era filmmaking limitations. The actor explains that the film was sH๏τ in a short span of time and Lee, the director, could not be physically present for any scenes. Check out Ice Cube’s comments below:

“This is a movie I did in 2020 during the pandemic, five years ago. We sH๏τ 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. But really, if sнιт went down, everybody would only have their screen to look at.”

What This Means For War Of The Worlds

Starting in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic did have a significant impact on many Hollywood productions. Many productions were paused, and when they resumed they faced strict rules about social distancing and gathering sizes. These protocols inflated budgets by millions – or even tens of millions – of dollars.

Evidently, War of the Worlds‘ screenlife storytelling would have made it easier to adhere to COVID-era protocols. Lee only being able to communicate with his actors virtually, however, does limit the creative process that takes place in-person on movie sets.

Ice Cube’s comments about the 15-day shoot schedule also speak to the film’s budget. While no figures have been released or reported, this was clearly a relatively inexpensive movie to make. Still, it’s worth noting that many other COVID-era productions were not lambasted by critics, suggesting the pandemic cannot solely be blamed for War of the Worlds not working.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the H.G. Wells adaptation has a dismal 4% from critics and a poor 21% Popcornmeter score. The writing is one frequent area of criticism, as is Ice Cube’s line delivery. Even without COVID, then, War of the Worlds likely would not have been a critical success.

Our Take On Ice Cube’s War Of The Worlds Defense

Making movies is hard. Nobody ever sets out to make a bad movie, and even something like War of the Worlds involved pᴀssionate people coming together to try to make something entertaining for audiences.

Though War of the Worlds fails on a storytelling and performance level, it undoubtedly has provided entertainment for millions of people on Prime Video. The onslaught of memes and social media posts about the movie marks a level of virality that many Hollywood productions strive for, even though obviously they’d prefer these reactions to be positive.

Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise arguably remains the best movie adaptation of the Wells’ story so far. Lee’s take is probably the worst, but perhaps it should be commended that he and the cast and crew came together to present such a wildly new take on legendary source material during a tough time for movies.