The producer behind Prime Video’s worst-rated sci-fi movie defends the project. Debuting on July 30, Patrick Aiello and Timur Bekmambetov’s reboot of War of the Worlds stars Ice Cube as a computer security analyst during an alien attack. He is joined by Eva Longoria, Iman Benson, Devon Bostick, and many others. 2025’s War of the Worlds faced a 0% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics upon its debut and has since only received one positive review. Combined with a 21% score from the audience, War of the Worlds secured a spot as one of the worst movies of all time on the aggregator’s list. In an interview with Toni’s Film Club, Aiello spoke up against the criticism War of the Worlds has received. The producer explained that they “intended to make a good movie.” While they were “only trying to entertain,” they had no control over it being “group hated.” Aiello further stressed that the streaming numbers in the end would justify whether the movie was a success. Read the producer’s comment below:
No one sets out to make a bad movie. Period. Ever. No one rolls out of bed to go work for 12, 14, 16 hours a day, sometimes, 6, 7 days a week in our case, to make a bad anything. We were only trying to entertain. It’s unfortunate that the movie was hated, or group hated, or just piled on top. We have no control over that.
You can only look at the end results and know if your effort was justified. And if we ascend to the number four, number five, or number six most-watched movie on Amazon’s platform ever, then we have totally been victorious. We intended to make a good movie. I think we made a really good movie for the money we had. We’ll be fine.
Check out the full interview below:

What This Means For Ice Cube’s War Of The Worlds

Ice Cube looking shocked with his hands to his temples in War of the Worlds 2025

War of the Worlds had a very limited marketing campaign, mainly comprising a banner poster and the tagline “It’s worse than you think” on Prime Video’s homepage. The lack of advanced promotion also contributed to an unexpected release and the movie being widely panned. While it was expected that the movie would fly under the radar, the Ice Cube-led sci-fi reboot was so negatively reviewed that it went viral on social media. It didn’t take long for War of the Worlds to gain notoriety as one of the worst movies ever made. On the other hand, it also became a streaming hit, having ranked on the platform’s Top 10 list globally. Taking place mainly on a computer screen with events unfolding through video calls and text messages, War of the Worlds was criticized for poor quality and accused of product placement. However, in the same interview, the producer also denied product placement, explaining that they were aiming for a theatrical release instead of straight-to-streaming, which fueled the misunderstanding.
Our Take On Ice Cube’s War Of The Worlds

While the producer didn’t disclose the specific figure, it does sound like War of the Worlds has a small budget, which limited the scale of the movie. Despite this, Aiello also stressed that they made “a really good movie for the money” they had. While it was intended to be funny and entertaining, the unexpected release may have led to these unforeseeable misinterpretations. Aiello’s comment shed some light on what may have been the cause of the movie’s infamy. On the other hand, the producer also highlighted how the streaming numbers and the movie’s viral status suggest that War of the Worlds wasn’t a complete disaster as critics described it.

War of the Worlds

Release Date

July 30, 2025

Runtime

91 Minutes

Director

Rich Lee

Writers

Marc Hyman, Kenny Golde, H.G. Wells

Producers

Timur Bekmambetov

Eva Longoria

NASA Scientist Sandra Salas