The early 2000s and even into the 2010s was a golden era for YA stories. Not only were YA books wildly popular and television geared towards that general demographic thriving, but YA movie adaptations were some of the hottest movies in theaters. Films like The Princess Diaries and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants were huge, and then there were major franchises that kicked off, all based on YA books — think Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games. However, not every YA adaptation was successful. The Divergent series started off strong only for its third film to underperform and then there’s franchises that never even fully got off the ground — and one such film is free to stream this month.
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I Am Number Four was originally released in theaters back in 2011 and was meant to be the start of a major franchise. Based on the novel of the same name — and one of the Lorien Legacies series of novels — the film had a solid cast, starring Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Dianna Agron, and Callan McAuliffe. The story followed a teenage alien (Pettyfer) who had been sent to Earth as a child to avoid other aliens who are hunting him and seven others down. The film is currently available to stream for free on Tubi.
What Happened With I Am Number Four (And Could We Get a Reboot?)
Everything about I Am Number Four seemed like it was primed for major franchise success. The novel it was based on was a major hit, having spent seven successive weeks at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It had a whole series of books after it, giving adaptations plenty of story to work with. YA was the hot genre across all entertainment at the time, and the book’s story was action-packed and intriguing. Unfortunately, taking it from page to screen simply didn’t work. Critics panned the film and were particularly critical of it’s very standard sci-fi plot and what many critics felt were unconvincing performances. Most felt that the film improved as its runtime went along and ultimately the movie did perform reasonably well in theaters but it wasn’t sustained success and it was that lack of sustained success that killed the franchise. While a sequel was already planned, those plans were scrapped, marking the end of the franchise before it could truly begin.
However, that might not be the end of the story for I Am Number Four. In 2024, it was revealed that a new adaptation of the film was in the works with original screenwriters Gough and Millar returning. There haven’t been any additional updates about the project so it’s unclear if a reboot really is happening (or at least happening anytime soon), though 15 years on, I Am Number Four might fare better. Not only is nostalgia continuing to be a strong driver in entertainment and the target demographic for most of the YA films of the early 2000s very much of an age where nostalgia matters and sells, but YA in general is starting to have a bit of a resurgence. The Hunger Games franchise has found continued success in both print and on screen, first with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and the upcoming Sunrise on the Reaping. If the I Am Number Four reboot does come to fruition, it could arrive at the right time to take advantage of restored interested in YA media — and if done right, could correct the issues that kept the first attempt at the franchise from getting off the ground.
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