EXCLUSIVE: Patrick Aiello and Timur Bekmambetov‘s reboot of War of the Worlds is debuting around the world on Prime Video on July 30.
The modern-day adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic novel follows Will Radford (Ice Cube), a top cyber-security analyst for Homeland Security, who spends his days tracking potential threats to national security through a mass surveillance program, until an attack by an unknown entity leads him to question whether the government is hiding something from him … and the rest of the world.
Watch the trailer above.
Timur Bekmambetov
Michael Buckner for Deadline
The Rich Lee-directed movie also stars Eva Longoria, Clark Gregg, Andrea Savage, Henry Hunter Hall, Iman Benson, Devon Bostick and Michael O’Neill. The indie film was written by Kenneth Golde and Marc Hyman and edited by Charles Ancelle, produced by Aiello and Bekmambetov, and executive produced by Adam Sidman.
Patrick Aiello
Courtesy photo
“The idea was organic,” says Aiello. “When catastrophes happen today, we experience them through our devices. That insight shaped the storytelling and tech used to create this immersive thriller.”
He adds, “For the first time ever, a studio-scale sci-fi epic has been produced using a format that places audiences inside the action through the lenses of phones, computers, and tablets. It’s a visceral, first-person experience designed for big screens in a language and format that is now natural within our daily lives.”
“It’ll be exciting for audiences to watch the movie and ask themselves: If aliens invaded today, how would we experience it? Most likely, we’d be watching it on our phones,” says Bekmambetov. “In that way, it’s kind of a modern spin on Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds. Back then, he used radio, the most popular technology of the time, to make people believe the invasion was real. Today, that medium is the screen of our devices.”
Bekmambetov’s feature credits include Unfriended (2015), Searching (2018) and Missing (2023), which have collectively grossed more than $200 million globally. His latest Screenlife production, the digital heist thriller LifeHack, premiered at SXSW in March and currently holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As a director, he is set to release his new techno thriller Mercy in January; the Amazon MGM Studios project stars Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson and is produced by Bekmambetov and Oppenheimer’s Charles Roven.
WME represented War of the Worlds, along with producers Aiello and Bekmambetov, and co-star Longoria. Cube is repped by UTA, Prospect Park and Ziffren Brittenham. Lee is with Paradigm and Anonymous Content. Hyman is represented by Independent Artist Group.