SOLARIS
2002
Director: Steven Soderberg
Box Office: $15 million (in the US)
The recently-widowed George Clooney travels to a remote space station orbiting the planet Solaris to investigate the crew's disappearance.
Why it shouldn’t have flopped: Despite the relative obscurity (for the multiplex crowd anyway) of its source material, this was an intelligent, handsomely-mounted SF film with the normally box office gold that is George Clooney.
Why it probably flopped: The lack of action and the laborious pace most probably scuppered Solaris' box office chances. Sure, people like Clooney, but not moping through an entire film. And where were the space battles and aliens? This kind of SF story plays well in literature, but not at the Multiplex.
What should have flopped instead: Men In Black II. The kind of film that gives SF a bad name.
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