'The Invasion': Four Directors Later

Bad buzz from the blogosphere. The fingerprints of four different directors. A pushed-back release. A chase scene gone awry and a star sent to the hospital--all caught on TMZ.com. $10 million spent on reshoots. And finally, no big Hollywood premiere from the studio (Warner Bros.). Things are not looking good for Nicole Kidman's new thriller The Invasion (another remake/update of Don Siegel's 1956 sci-fi classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers, based on the Jack Finney novel), which opens this weekend. And to think that Kidman was going to do The Brave One before signing on for this movie. From the Hollywood Reporter's review:

The film was intended as the English-language debut for German director Oliver Hirschbiegel, who made "Downfall," the utterly compelling dramatization of the last days of the Third Reich. After production wrapped in early 2006, the Wachowski brothers of "Matrix" fame were brought in for reshoots. They in turn hired their "V for Vendetta" director James McTeigue to direct new scenes they wrote.

One can play the game of who shot what and how a potential masterpiece of creeping paranoia was ruined by Hollywood suits forever. But what we have is this: an involving sci-fi action-thriller, probably longer on chase sequences than the original director wanted and shorter on the "ick" factor than the studio wanted.

Unless pre-word-of-mouth already has sullied the title beyond redemption, "Invasion" should see a solid two weeks of box office in theatrical release, both domestic and foreign, and then establish itself as a robust title on DVD.

The Variety review was less kind:

All good things must come to an end -- in this case, the lucky streak that's made every adaptation of Jack Finney's 1955 sci-fi novel "The Body Snatchers" distinctive and effective, until now. Troubled production...emerges a slick but forgettable, characterless thriller. Lure of Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig's first post-Bond role and large-scale PG-13 action-horror could produce OK opening numbers, but steep falloff is guaranteed. Ancillary may drag pic into the eventual black.