Avatar Star Sam Worthington Headlined This Netflix-Exclusive Sci-Fi Bomb

Chances are, you probably know Sam Worthington from some super-popular blockbusters such as "Avatar" (and its sequels), "Terminator Salvation," and "Everest," or great but smaller films like "Hacksaw Ridge," "Last Night," and "Relay." But that's not because he doesn't appear in a lot of movies. It's because he's got a special ability to pick out some absolute stinkers (in addition to genuinely intriguing roles) from time to time that get buried rather quickly without anyone talking about them for too long. The list of those duds is quite long — "Clash of the Titans," "9 Bullets," "The Last Son," take your pick — but one in particular stands out as his biggest sci-fi flop ever: Netflix's "The Titan."

Lennart Ruff's 2018 sci-fi thriller follows U.S. Air Force pilot Rick Janssen (Worthington), his researcher wife Abi (Taylor Schilling), and their son Lucas (Noah Jupe) in the future of 2048 as they join a highly classified experimental medical program. Since Earth is rapidly becoming completely uninhabitable, scientists identified Saturn's moon, Titan, as a potential planet that humanity can escape to.

The program that Rick and his family become a part of forces their bodies to adapt to the harsh environments of Titan, with dangers such as low oxygen and cold methane liquids. But the further Rick goes with the tests, the changes in his body seem to become more and more dangerous, and possibly even lethal. Along with him, Abi suspects that the man in charge, Professor Martin Collingwood (Tom Wilkinson), knows a lot more about what's happening to her husband than he lets on.

Max Hurwitz's script (adapting Arash Amel's story idea) isn't a terrible one at all, at least as far as modern sci-fi goes. But instead of exploring its most interesting themes in ways that haven't been done before, "The Titan" resorts to blatant clichés and predictable narrative beats to play it safe rather than pulling off something original and bold. And Ruff's lackluster execution in a rather standard and dull direction doesn't help viewers much to be engaged and invested in the Janssen Family's drama either. There's really not much to like in "The Titan," no matter what angle you're trying to approach it from.

So it comes as no surprise that critics lambasted it upon release (Ruff's feature currently holds a 23% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), and it fared even worse with audiences (as its miserable 15% popcornmeter shows). Although it was a Netflix exclusive, "The Titan" received a limited theatrical release before being added to the streamer's library. During that window, it grossed a meager $2.6 million worldwide at the box office. It's safe to say that if you're on the lookout to find and watch something good with Worthington in the lead, you can (and should) skip "The Titan."