Chris Pratt tells at-home audiences to turn off their phones while watching his new movie The Tomorrow War, a sci-fi actioner streaming on Amazon Prime Video in the not-too-distant future. Once upon a time, the first live-action film from director Chris McKay (The Lego Movie, The Lego Batman Movie) was scheduled for a Christmas 2020 release in theaters before original distributor Paramount Pictures and producers Skydance Media moved The Tomorrow War out of 2020 and into summer 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In April, Paramount sold the movie for a reported $200 million to Amazon, where it will stream starting on July 2.
“You’re guaranteed a certain viewing experience when you see a movie at the theater. I’m a huge proponent of the cinema, I love it. Especially in 2021, because you literally have someone walk out and say, ‘Turn off your phone,’” Pratt told Digital Spy. “In what other part of the world, in what other area do you see a collective group of people take two hours to do something together with no phones? You can still have an amazing viewing experience watching this on Prime. I would just advocate that people turn their phones off.”
Videos by ComicBook.com
“Sit down, commit to watching all the way through. You can do it in the comfort of your own home,” Pratt added. “Turn up the volume as loud as you can, watch on the biggest screen you can, and really just allow yourself to be immersed in the story because that’s the intention. That was always the intention.”
Pratt says The Tomorrow War, about father Dan Forester (Pratt) and other time-traveling soldiers joining mankind’s future war against a deadly alien species, is unlike most straight-to-streaming productions because it’s “actually really good” โ even at home.
“I say this respectfully to all the streamers out there, a lot of the content on streaming sucks. I went through the pandemic, everyone wore out their Apple TVs and whatever TVs… and every streaming service and all this stuff, and a lot of it is not good,” Pratt said. “But we watch it because you can watch it and flip through your phone as you’re multitasking as you’re waiting out this pandemic. This is actually really good! This is a really good movie that was intended for the cinema.”
“So watch it at home, but pretend you’re at the movie theater,” Pratt continued. “Turn your phone off and sit back and enjoy, because it’s freaking awesome.”
The Tomorrow War, starring Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons, Sam Richardson, and Betty Gilpin, is streaming on Amazon Prime Video on July 2.