You would think that a $100 million blockbuster starring two of Hollywood’s hottest young talents in Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley would be a pretty big deal, but it appears that even studio Lionsgate have long since lost interest in Chaos Walking. The adaptation of Patrick Ness’ YA novel The Knife of Letting Go hits theaters in just two months, but even if it wasn’t for the industry being brought to its knees as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, the troubled project was more than likely going to bomb anyway.
On paper, Chaos Walking has all the ingredients to be a success. As well as Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars actors in the lead roles, the supporting cast is rounded out by the reliable likes of David Oyelowo, Cynthia Erivo, Nick Jonas and Mads Mikkelsen, with The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Edge of Tomorrow‘s Doug Liman behind the camera.
However, after shooting initially wrapped three years ago, Liman was booted from the production and The Evil Dead remake’s Fede Alvarez stepped in to helm reshoots that added $15 million onto the budget. The additional photography finished up in May 2019, and Chaos Walking has been sitting on the shelf ever since. Resigning themselves to the fact they have to at least give the movie some sort of marketing push, though, Lionsgate have now released the first poster, which you can check out below.
Relying on Holland and Ridley to sell Chaos Walking to audiences is probably the only chance it has of success, especially when everyone involved seems to have already given up on it a long time ago. Still, you never know, it might surprise folks and turn out to be a great movie. Stranger things have happened, after all.