2021 film by Neil Burger
Voyagers
|
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/32/Voyagers.jpg) Theatrical release poster
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Directed by
| Neil Burger
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Written by
| Neil Burger
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Produced by
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Starring
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Cinematography
| Enrique Chediak
|
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Edited by
| Naomi Geraghty
|
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Music by
| Trevor Gureckis
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Production
companies
| |
---|
Distributed by
| |
---|
Release dates
|
- April 9, 2021
(
2021-04-09
)
(United States)
- September 28, 2021
(
2021-09-28
)
(United Kingdom)
|
---|
Running time
| 108 minutes
|
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Countries
|
- United States
[4]
- United Kingdom
[4]
- Czech Republic
[4]
- Romania
[4]
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Language
| English
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Budget
| $29 million
[5]
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Box office
| $4.2 million
[6]
[7]
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Voyagers
is a 2021 thriller
science fiction film
written, co-produced and directed by
Neil Burger
.
[8]
It stars
Tye Sheridan
,
Lily-Rose Depp
,
Fionn Whitehead
,
Colin Farrell
,
Chante Adams
,
Isaac Hempstead Wright
,
Viveik Kalra
,
Archie Renaux
,
Archie Madekwe
, and
Quintessa Swindell
, and follows a group of apprentice astronauts sent on a multi-generational mission in the year 2063 to colonize a habitable exoplanet amidst runaway climate change and declining habitability on Earth, who descend into paranoia and social conflict after discovering that their personalities and emotions were being artificially suppressed. The film was theatrically released on April 9, 2021, by
Lionsgate
and was a
box office bomb
, grossing
US$
4.2 million
[7]
[6]
against a $29 million production budget.
[5]
[9]
Plot
[
edit
]
In 2063,
astrophysicists
on a
climate-change
-ravaged Earth find a habitable
planet
. A scouting mission is sent, although the roughly 86-year flight means that the launch crew
astronauts
' grandchildren will be the ones who reach the planet. To help the crew cope with spending their remaining lives mostly in
flight
, the original 30 eggs & sperm cells are bred through
IVF
and grew into infants and later, young children were kept in isolation from the rest of the world. To extend their time in flight, they are launched on the
Humanitas
spaceship as youth, led by senior program commander Richard, to guide them through the journey's early stage. The plan is for IVF to be performed when the crew turns 24, to be repeated on those
offspring
when they turn 24.
During the tenth year of the flight, Christopher and Zac discover a
chemical
is added to the boys' and girls' food that suppresses the sex drive and pleasure response, keeping them docile and manageable. The pair stops taking the chemical, and their surging hormones drive them to become competitive, careless, and anxious to engage in sexual relations, particularly with crewmate Sela who has trained as chief
medical officer
.
During a repair effort outside the
Humanitas
to address a failed Earth communication system, chief officer Richard is killed and a fire damages more ship systems. Christopher is voted the new chief officer, which upsets Zac, who then tells the others to stop ingesting the chemical. The mission descends into madness as many of the men and women revert to their most
primal
state.
Zac tells the others an
alien
killed Richard, and he will protect them, letting them eat all the (closely conserved) food they want. He convinces all but five to follow him rather than Christopher. Christopher and Sela, who have become a couple, find and repair a video disk that reveals Zac killed Richard and precipitated the further systems damage by turning on the electricity to the communications array while Richard was working on it. They show the others, but Zac convinces many that an alien is inhabiting one of them, and his followers murder anyone Zac targets.
Christopher inadvertently leads Zac to a weapons cache for their grandchildren to use on the planet. Christopher, Sela, and Phoebe are the only
holdouts
. Phoebe is killed as the pack searches for Christopher and Sela. The pair ejects Zac into
space
, and peace returns to the
Humanitas
. Sela is voted chief officer. The crew permanently forgoes the suppression chemical and learn to manage their emotions. They fall in love and have children naturally rather than via the planned IVF.
Decades
later,
Humanitas
and its multi-generational
crew
arrive at the planet, which appears from orbit to be as
Earth
-like as hoped.
Cast
[
edit
]
Production
[
edit
]
The project was announced in January 2019, with
Neil Burger
serving as the writer and director of the film.
[10]
In April 2019,
Colin Farrell
,
Tye Sheridan
,
Lily-Rose Depp
, and
Fionn Whitehead
were cast as the film's main characters with filming due to begin in
Romania
in June.
[11]
That June,
Viveik Kalra
,
Quintessa Swindell
,
Archie Madekwe
, and
Archie Renaux
joined the cast as supporting characters, with
Lionsgate
being chosen as the film's distributor.
[12]
Principal photography
was to begin in Romania on 17 June 2019.
[13]
Release
[
edit
]
Theatrical
[
edit
]
Voyagers
was originally scheduled to be released on November 25, 2020,
[14]
but its schedule was significantly delayed due to the fallout of the
COVID-19 pandemic
, which negatively impacted the production of a substantial number of films.
[15]
It was subsequently rescheduled to be released on April 9, 2021.
[16]
[17]
Home media
[
edit
]
Voyagers
was released on
DVD
,
Blu-ray
and
Ultra HD Blu-ray
on June 15, 2021 by
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
.
[18]
Reception
[
edit
]
Box office
[
edit
]
In United States and Canada,
Voyagers
was released in 1,972 theatres, earning $500,000 on its first day and $1.4 million over its opening weekend, finishing fifth at the box office.
[5]
The film dropped by over 43.5%, to $779,317, in its second weekend, finishing sixth.
[19]
Critical response
[
edit
]
The
review aggregator
website
Rotten Tomatoes
reports that 26% of 141 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "It has a game cast and a premise ripe with potential, but
Voyagers
drifts in familiar orbit instead of fully exploring its intriguing themes."
[20]
Metacritic
assigned a weighted average score of 44 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
[21]
Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale, while
PostTrak
reported that 53% of its audience members gave it a positive score, with 27% stating that they would certainly recommend it.
[5]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Wiseman, Andreas (26 April 2019).
"
'Voyagers': Colin Farrell, Lily-Rose Depp, Tye Sheridan Among Cast For Neil Burger's Sci-Fi-Thriller; Uni Int'l Buys Major Markets From AGC"
.
Deadline Hollywood
. Retrieved
15 August
2023
.
- ^
Brew, Simon (28 September 2021).
"Voyagers: sci-fi movie moves to Sky Cinema, latest trailer"
.
Film Stories
. Retrieved
15 August
2023
.
- ^
Kay, Jeremy (10 February 2019).
"AGC International strikes multiple EFM deals on 'Voyagers'
"
.
Screen International
. Retrieved
15 August
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Voyagers (2021) ? Neil Burger"
.
AllMovie
.
Archived
from the original on August 9, 2023
. Retrieved
September 30,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 10, 2021).
"
'Godzilla Vs. Kong' Stomping To $69M By Sunday; Easily Top-Grossing Pic To Date At Domestic B.O. During Pandemic"
.
Deadline Hollywood
.
Archived
from the original on April 10, 2021
. Retrieved
April 10,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"
Voyagers (2021)
"
.
The Numbers
. Nash Information Services, LLC
. Retrieved
May 7,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"
Voyagers (2021)
"
.
Box Office Mojo
.
IMDb
. Retrieved
June 10,
2021
.
- ^
"
'Voyagers' Summary & Ending, Explained - Depicts Horrors Of Human Madness | DMT"
.
Digital Mafia Talkies
. 2021-05-11.
Archived
from the original on 2021-05-11
. Retrieved
2021-05-11
.
- ^
"Forbes > article "Weekend Box Office: 'Voyagers' Bombs But 'The Unholy' Holds Firm" by Scott Mendelson (April 11, 2021)"
.
Forbes
.
Archived
from the original on July 26, 2021
. Retrieved
July 26,
2021
.
- ^
Mitchell, Robert (2019-01-17).
"
'Upside' Director Neil Burger Sets Sci-Fi 'Voyagers' as Next Project"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
2023-11-23
.
- ^
Wiseman, Andreas (2019-04-26).
"
'Voyagers': Colin Farrell, Lily-Rose Depp, Tye Sheridan Among Cast For Neil Burger's Sci-Fi-Thriller; Uni Int'l Buys Major Markets From AGC"
.
Deadline
. Retrieved
2023-11-23
.
- ^
Wiseman, Andreas (2019-06-28).
"
'Voyagers': Lionsgate Snaps Up U.S. Rights To Neil Burger Sci-Fi-Thriller With Colin Farrell, Tye Sheridan & Lily-Rose Depp"
.
Deadline Hollywood
.
Archived
from the original on 2020-10-29
. Retrieved
2019-06-28
.
- ^
Marc, Christopher (2019-05-02).
"Neil Burger's Sci-Fi Flick 'Voyagers' Eyes June 17th Production Start In Romania ? Stars Colin Farrell, Tye Sheridan, and Fionn Whitehead"
.
HN Entertainment
.
Archived
from the original on 2019-05-10
. Retrieved
2019-06-28
.
- ^
D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 1, 2020).
"
'John Wick 4' To 2022, While 'Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard', 'Spiral, 'Barb And Star' & More Head To 2021: Lionsgate Release Date Changes"
.
Deadline Hollywood
.
Archived
from the original on August 13, 2021
. Retrieved
May 1,
2020
.
- ^
Welk, Brian (October 9, 2020).
"Colin Farrell Sci-Fi 'Voyagers' and Hilary Swank Thriller 'Fatale' Bumped to 2021 by Lionsgate"
.
The Wrap
.
Archived
from the original on October 14, 2020
. Retrieved
October 9,
2020
.
- ^
"VIDEO: Colin Farrell, Lily-Rose Depp and Chante Adams Talk VOYAGERS"
.
broadwayworld.com
. 28 March 2021.
Archived
from the original on 17 July 2022
. Retrieved
17 July
2022
.
It was originally scheduled to be released on November 25, 2020. However, it was pulled from the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was rescheduled to be released on April 9, 2021.
- ^
"Director Neil Burger's 'Voyagers' launches a colony ship to the stars"
.
Space.com
. 9 April 2021.
Archived
from the original on 17 April 2021
. Retrieved
10 April
2021
.
- ^
"Voyagers Blu-ray revealed the release"
.
DVD Release Dates
.
Archived
from the original on October 21, 2021
. Retrieved
October 21,
2021
.
- ^
"Box Office: 'Mortal Kombat' Nears $20M Overseas As 'Nobody' Nears $35M Global"
.
Forbes
. April 18, 2021.
Archived
from the original on April 19, 2021
. Retrieved
April 23,
2021
.
- ^
"
Voyagers (2021)
"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
.
Fandango Media
. Retrieved
October 17,
2022
.
- ^
"
Voyagers Reviews
"
.
Metacritic
.
Fandom, Inc.
Retrieved
April 18,
2021
.
External links
[
edit
]