Summary
- Despite star power, In The Lost Lands flopped at the box office, earning only about $1 million.
- Author George R.R. Martin praised the movie adaptation, but reviews and box office performance were negative.
- Although a sequel might take place, fans and critics have mixed feelings about the film adaptation.
In a spectacular example of a project failing despite being a sure shot on paper, a recent adaptation of legendary Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin isn’t faring so well at the box office, despite some serious added star power in the lead roles.
The Game of Thrones books are Martin’s greatest literary accomplishment by common consensus, and that led not just the mainline books to be adapted by HBO (right up to an original, badly received end to the series), but also lit the path for spinoff projects similarly based off of Martin’s Game of Thrones adjacent works. However, this same appeal wouldn’t extend to In The Lost Lands, which was picked up for a movie adaptation all the way back in 2015 before finally hitting theaters this year. Based instead on a short story from the Jessica Amanda Salmonson-edited fantasy anthology Amazons II, In The Lost Lands comes from far more obscure fare. Because of this, many fans were left asking what In The Lost Lands is even about when first catching wind of the project.
Related
George R.R. Martin spoke about the ups and downs of his books being adapted on TV, specifically centered around one character.
Despite the lack of hype from not being related to Martin’s other work, In The Lost Lands did have the advantage of starring actress Milla Jovovich and wrestler-turned-actor standout Dave Bautista in the lead roles. However, even those two big names were evidently not enough to get the film the sort of attention it deserved. In a report from Collider, its noted that the film came in at #10 on the box office charts this past weekend with earnings of just about $1 million, barely beating out entries with far less popular leads and writers involved. Adding to the bad feeling around the release is the Rotten Tomatoes critic score for the film, which currently sits at 26% at time of writing. Notably, that marks an improvement from an earlier score of 17%. While the audience score is much higher than the critic score, that’s only as high as 45% at this time.
This outing at the box office is an unmitigated flop for the film, made all the more perplexing by the big names involved. Despite a relatively modest budget of just over $55 million, the film doesn’t seem like it’s on track to break even or make a profit, going off of its current performance. However, it’s hard to pin down what is wrong with the film in light of how many respondents like the source material but dislike the movie adaptation. In The Lost Lands has garnered mostly mixed to negative reviews, but original creator Martin has had a ton of praise for the adaptation and hails it as having captured his voice better than any previous adaptation of his work. This is a pretty strong compliment from Martin, especially with the stellar adaptation done by some parts of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon on HBO. So it’s a mystery why critics have dismissed In The Lost Lands as squandering the source material when the source of the material thinks it’s great.
While the film is off to a horrid start on all fronts, not all hope is lost just yet. It’s been said that Martin is reportedly on board for a sequel film to In The Lost Lands despite the film’s box office performance and unwelcoming reception. If the award-winning author feels strongly enough about it, he could probably get a sequel in motion himself. It wouldn’t be the first underappreciated fantasy project that Martin has put his foot on the scale for, and the fans that did enjoy it will be pleased as punch.
In The Lost Lands is currently available in theaters in the United States.
In the Lost Lands
- Release Date
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March 7, 2025
- Runtime
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101 Minutes
- Director
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Paul W. S. Anderson
More
George R.R. Martin has been hard at work finishing up all sorts of projects over the last decade, except the one that fans want the most from him.
Source: Collider