Another week, anotherNetflixfilm with less-than-stellar reviews seemed to find an audience. This time, it’s the Jennifer Lopez-led science fiction action filmAtlas, which has a rotten score of 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. The platform seemingly ignored those subpar notices by boasting that the movie was a big hit over the Memorial Day holiday, currently racking up 28.2 million views during its premiere weekend.
The performance ofAtlasis highlighted more by the recent box office debuts of films likeThe Fall GuyorFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga, which came in lower than expectations but secured much better reviews from critics. Why has the JLO sci-fi action artificial intelligence fest fared better? Let’s dive in!
The Concept of Netflix’s Atlas Film
Directed by Brad Peyton and written by Leo Sardarian and Aron Eli Coleite,Atlastakes on the rather topicalconcept of AI(artificial intelligence) through the eyes of Atlas Shepherd(Lopez), an analyst who doesn’t have much faith in it.Atlas’distrust is warranted, given that AI once declared war on humanity. Leading that charge was Harlan (Simu Liu), an AI robot who was in charge of a rebellion 28 years prior that left 3 million deceased humans in his wake.
Military forces ultimately fought back, leading to Harlan fleeing the planet. Now, he has sent more of his robots back to Earth to continue his war.Atlassoon finds herself on a mission to capture Harlan, but when things don’t go as planned, the only thing she can trust to survive is the very AI they’re up against.
Artificial Intelligence Has Been a Big Talking Point Lately
The big interest inAtlascouldbe that AIhas recently been a big part of the conversation. Some industries are frightened by it and afraid that it may take their jobs, which is very prevalent in entertainment. During the WGA and SAG strikes last year, protection regarding AI was ahuge sticking point in negotiations. The talent believed that the technology could seemingly replace their likeness or work, while studios, networks, and streamers saw its use from a financially viable place.Arguments from both sides talked about why AI was frightening or why it was a future that simply couldn’t be ignored.
Atlasmakes an argument for both cases. AI could become so dangerous and self-aware that it could destroy us, but it also maintains that it can be used for good. The film isn’t filled with deep, thought-provoking ideas on the matter, but its surface-level attempts could be just enough to spark conversation among viewers. It’s a topic that has been in the news daily, and when a big Hollywood film appears to be taking it on, it’s bound to garner a bit of interest.
The Accessibility of Netflix
Jennifer Lopez’s Atlas Scores One of Her Worst Rotten Tomatoes Ratings
Atlas represents Jennifer Lopez’s most recent collaboration with Netflix following the success of The Mother on the streaming platform.
IfAtlashad opened in movie theaters nationwide over the weekend, rather than exclusively on Netflix,the overwhelming narrative likely would’ve been its lackluster box office debut. Bad reviews would’ve kept most moviegoers away from this one on the big screen, as they would’ve been more inclined to checkAtlasout when it hit digital and VOD just a few weeks later. The fact of the matter is thatAtlaslooks like a film that was made for Netflix and home consumption.
Likely, this wouldn’thave turned into a box-office hitif audiences had to pay the price of admission to see it. It all comes down to weighing potential wins and losses for the audience. Should they watchAtlasat home and find that they didn’t enjoy it, they can quickly move on to another film on the platform. The sting of the movie being a misfire would hurt much more if the audience spent their hard-earned cash on it. Keep in mind thatMadame Webwas the number one movie on Netflix recently, and that film suffered greatly at the box office before its streaming debut. The risk of sampling it was much less severe from the safe space of a sofa.This could also be at play withAtlas’s success on the platform so far.
Jennifer Lopez Has International Appeal
Jennifer Lopez is also a considerable draw. Not only is she a movie star, but she is also a well-known international celebrity with a lot of reach. She’s an actress who has achieved some box office success throughout her career, but what she has done even better than that is build a brand, even if that brand isn’t always associated with the films she makes.Lopez dabbles in music, make-up lines, clothing accessories, and other endeavors that have allowed her to touch different fanbases.Some might question her complete popularity, but with 252 million followers on Instagram alone, many potential eyes could check outAtlasat home.
Jennifer Lopez’s 10 Best Movies, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes Audiences' Score
Jennifer Lopez is one of the highest-paid Latina actresses in the history of Hollywood.
The actress has also proven herself to the Netflix audience. Her 2023 action filmThe Mother, which alsowasn’t a hit with critics, resonated with Netflix viewers in a big way when, by June 2023, the film had registered 249.9 million hours watched, which reportedly was the most hours watched of any Netflix original at the time. Within its first 28 days, it became one of the streamer’sten most popular English-language filmsof all time, only trailing other big movies on the platform, such asExtractionandRed Notice,but topping Martin Scorsese’sThe Irishman.
Success like this is why Netflix wants to be in business with a celebrity like Lopez. She has proven in the streaming era to guarantee a level of success. The verdict is still out on whetherAtlascan reach the heights ofThe Mother, but it’s off to a great start and will probably solidify Netflix’s union with the actress on future projects.
Jennifer Lopez Keeps Her Name in the Press
They also say any publicity is good publicity, which Lopez has herself at the center of. Amid the actress pounding the pavement to promote the film, rumors have suggested that hermarriage to Ben Affleckis on the rocks. Both have been relatively silent about the status of their relationship, even though most signs point to things not being too sunshine and roses at home. It hasn’t stopped Lopez from getting the word out aboutAtlas.
She has done interviews with fellow castmembers Simu Liu and Sterling K. Brown, even one where the former had to help her shut down a question about her marriage during one of the film’s press junkets. How does this relate to viewers checking outAtlas?The actress has been frequently in the news leading up to the film’s release on Netflix. For better or worse, her personal life is its own form of promotion, and it becomes just another way to build interest in anything she does.
Is Netflix’s Atlas a Memorable Film?
It will be interesting to see whereAtlasgoes in the weeks ahead. Some have pointed out that many of these streaming releases burn bright and fade pretty quickly, which doesn’t give them the same shelf life as a movie given a theatrical release. In most cases, Netflix films still haven’t been able to achieve the cultural relevance of a movie that debuts in theaters, and, in the case ofAtlas, its 50% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes may indicate that this got more hate watches than genuine views.
That said, in an industry that has become increasingly determined by coming in hot out of the gate, Netflix has found a way to tap into that interest. News of bad reviews was spun into them having the number one film on their platform globally. In contrast,Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which had much better reviews, had to deal with the opening weekend narrative of it being an underperformer because it didn’t live up tobox office expectations.Perhaps the big test shouldn’t be the opening weekend reception but which film will still be talked about months or a year from now. Will audiences still be discussingAtlas? More than likely, they will have moved on to the next flavor of the month on Netflix.Atlasis now streaming onNetflix.
