5 Years Ago Today, a 10/10 Sci-Fi Book That Deserved a Franchise Was Instantly Ruined by Its Movie

It’s easy to understand why movie studios are interested in adapting beloved book series. If the first film is a hit, then there’s a readymade franchise with a built-in fan base and source material that can serve as a tentpole for the next several years. There are plenty of successful examples that have been released over the years (including Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games), illustrating the merits of this strategy. Of course, as I Am Number Four can attest, failing to make a memorable impression of the gate can kill a would-be franchise before it even had a chance to find its footing. The 2020s saw one of the more infamous instances of this when Chaos Walking premiered.

The film, based on Patrick Ness’ novel The Knife of Never Letting Go (the first entry in the author’s Chaos Walking trilogy), was released five years ago on March 5, 2021. Expectations for the movie were high, but it underwhelmed both critically and commercially. Panned by critics, Chaos Walking grossed only $27 million at the worldwide box office against a budget of $100-125 million, effectively crushing any hopes of bringing the other books to life on the big screen.

Chaos Walking Couldn’t Deliver On Its Exciting Potential

Faith that Chaos Walking could become the next great young-adult film series wasn’t misplaced. Ness’ novels were widely acclaimed best-sellers, impressing readers with its compelling thematic material and inventive worldbuilding. The primary hook is that the story takes place in a dystopian world where people can hear each other’s thoughts thanks to something known as “the Noise.” In addition to boasting such a creative concept, Chaos Walking featured plenty of talent on both sides of the camera. Doug Liman of The Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow fame served as director, and Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland were the stars. Despite that collection of pieces, Chaos Walking fell woefully short.

Even before Chaos Walking had its premiere upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, there were signs that the film was in trouble. Principal photography wrapped in 2017, but then extensive reshoots were commissioned following negative test screenings. The reshoots, which were put on the back burner while Ridley and Holland fulfilled their respective Star Wars and Marvel obligations, were overseen by Fede Álvarez (though Liman remained credited as director). Unfortunately, they didn’t do much to help the final product. In stark contrast from its award-winning source material, the Chaos Walking film was criticized for its generic storytelling and uninteresting characters. The movie struggled to properly convey what made Ness’ books so unique, falling into standard genre trappings while only scratching the surface of the rich tale the author told.

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There have been instances of young-adult adaptations faring poorly with critics but performing well enough commercially to spawn a franchise. The Maze Runner movies largely received mixed reviews (the three films have Rotten Tomatoes scores of 65%, 47%, and 43%). However, they were all very successful at the box office, in large part thanks to their modest budgets (the most expensive was The Death Cure at $62 million). There’s a world where Chaos Walking might have been able to overcome its negative reviews by becoming a financial hit, but the movie’s theatrical run was doomed from the start. The pandemic still had a considerable impact on the theatrical landscape in early 2021, meaning Chaos Walking was never going to become a blockbuster.

It’s a shame Chaos Walking turned out the way it did. Considering how beloved Ness’ books are, this is a series that deserved to be a full franchise. If handled properly, it might have even been able to transcend its YA genre label, reaching a wider audience with its deep exploration of hard-hitting subject matter and fascinating depiction of a distinct post-apocalyptic world. The foundation is there for an all-time great sci-fi film series, and it will be interesting to see if there is ever an attempt to get a reboot off the ground. Chaos Walking feels like something that’s ripe for a do-over, taking the great ideas at the heart of the book series and executing them on screen much more effectively. The Hunger Games film franchise is still ongoing, so there remains an audience for this kind of material.

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