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War of the Worlds (2005)

Starring Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, and Tim Robbins.  Cinematography by Janusz Kaminski.  Edited by Michael Kahn. Produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Colin Wilson. Written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp.  Directed by Steven Spielberg.

Ray Ferrier (played by Tom Cruise) is a dockworker in a quiet New Jersey town.  One morning, after a long shift, Ray meets his ex-wife (played by Miranda Otto) who is delivering his nearly estranged children, Robbie and Rachael (played by Justin Chatwin and Dakota Fanning), to spend the weekend with him.  Within hours of their arrival, a violent lightning storm suddenly blows through.

When Ray goes to investigate, he quickly finds himself among a crowd panicked bystanders running away from a giant alien tripod that is literally vaporizing everything in its path. Ray makes his way back to his kids and leaves town headed towards Boston in effort to reunite Robbie and Rachael with their mother.  But the aliens are also on the move, laying a path of destruction across the country.

While still involved with the production of Catch Me If You Can, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg met to discuss the possibilities of future film collaborations. One film idea that Spielberg pitched to Cruise was a modernized adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells novel, The War of the Worlds.  An updated film version of the science fiction watershed had been knocking around the inside of Spielberg’s head for years and he quickly sold his vision to Cruise.

Though they eventually chose to jump into Minority Report first, the two remained enthusiastic for their pending project. Their epic scale production was initially slated for a 2007 release date, but when both Spielberg and Cruise suddenly found themselves with a break in their schedules in August of 2004, War of the Worlds was quickly greenlit and rushed into pre-production.  The new target of June 2005 was set and Spielberg and his experienced crew jumped into action.

War of the Worlds would be the third installment in an informal “extraterrestrial life” trilogy that started back in 1977 with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and followed five years later with E.T. the Extra Terrestrial.  Principle photography on the picture began a mere seven month’s before its scheduled release date.  In effort to give the crew at Industrial Light & Magic enough time to complete the five hundred plus CGI effects, Spielberg started his shoot with the major action sequences.

With the big money shots in the bag, he and his tightly knit crew then headed back to west coast to hit the stages waiting for him at Universal and Twentieth Century Fox Studios.  Seventy two days later Spielberg had his film in the can. After a quick and efficient post-production, War of the Worlds was released to an enthusiastic public.

Despite large holes in the plot, and a bad case of Tom Cruise over-exposure, the picture was decorated with generally favorable reviews.  Audiences seemed to agree as the film went on to gross well over two hundred million dollars domestically and over five hundred million world wide. Spielberg had once again proved his dominancy over the summer popcorn flicks.

Budget: $128,000,000

Total US Gross: TBD

Genre: Science Fiction

Runtime: 116 Minutes

US Release Date: 6/29/05

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Awards: TBD

Tagline: They’re Already Here.

Quote: “It's not a war any more than it's a war between men and maggots.  This is an extermination.”

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