Tom Hanks And Halle Berry Led An All-Star Cast In A Sci-Fi Movie That Flopped At The Box Office

It's been almost 15 years since the Wachowski Sisters (along with "Run Lola Run" director Tom Tykwer) gave audiences their last truly ambitious and equally polarizing movie with "Cloud Atlas." The 2012 sci-fi, based on David Mitchell's 2004 novel of the same name, was a sprawling epic depicting six vastly different periods across time with an all-star cast (including Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Sturgess, and Hugo Weaving, etc.) and a virtually incomprehensible narrative structure so complex and expansive that, at times, it felt like the whole thing would crumble and collapse under its own weight.

And although the Wachowskis attempted to pull off something similar three years later with "Jupiter Ascending" (with diminishing returns), they've never come close to reaching the same heights in terms of scope and scale again. And if "The Matrix Resurrections" is any indication of their faltering talents as filmmakers, they never will. Whether you belonged with those who hated or those who loved the movie, it's hard to argue that "Cloud Atlas" was a mesmerizing and aspiring swing for the fences that could have been one sci-fi to watch in 4K.

And as such, its massive story unfolded accordingly. It's difficult to summarize the movie's plot other than to encapsulate what it tried to do: create a sense on interconnectedness among people who lived several different lives over multiple centuries, beginning in the 1800s and ending in the future of the 2300s. Whether you call it reincarnation or a spiritual bond that never dies, the point was to explore these connections and the fluctuating emotions they created.

Anything the Wachowskis made over the last three decades almost always had a controversial effect, which often split their audiences. "Cloud Atlas" has done that on the largest scale and became the peak of polarization when it comes to their filmography. With its production cost landing somewhere between $100 and $140 million, the flick quickly turned into one of the most expensive independent films ever made. And, unsurprisingly, it couldn't deliver on its promises commercially.

Despite the breathtaking cinematography, gorgeous visual effects, and prestigious cast, "Cloud Atlas" proved too bold for the average moviegoer. Its extensive three-hour runtime must've factored into the equation, too, ultimately resulting in an underwhelming box office performance. The domestic numbers were miserable (peaking at $27 million), and the film's worldwide gross stopped at $130 million. Predictably, critics and audiences were mixed on it but both scores on Rotten Tomatoes are currently at 66%, as of this writing, and that likely hasn't changed in the past 14 years.

I haven't seen the movie since its release, but I remember thinking during my first watch (despite mostly enjoying the film) that I'd probably never revisit it in the future. It's such an exhausting movie on every level that it makes it hard to truly appreciate its strengths (though it has plenty) and gloss over its weaknesses (of which it also has loads) without feeling completely spent by the end. Still, no one can take away the credit from the Wachowski Sisters that they delivered an uncompromised version of their own vision the way they imagined it: epic, ambitious, and impressively expansive.