This 15%-Rated Johnny Depp Sci-Fi Movie Could’ve Ended His Career 25 Years Ago
But it ended the director’s one instead.
No matter how many controversies there are around Johnny Depp ’s name ever since the abuse allegations were presented by Amber Heard, no one can deny the impact that the actor made on filmmaking and cinema industry. The actor has been working since XX and was widely popular until the late 2010s.
However, his career could’ve ended way earlier, after the release of one of the biggest 1999 box office flops, The Astronaut’s Wife.
Is The Astronaut’s Wife Bad?
While some people still praise the movie and claim that it's very underrated, the majority of critics along with the audience agree that the casting directors of The Astronaut's Wife must have had some kind of blackmail on Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron for them to agree to do it.
As expected, the acting was noted as the best thing about the 15% rated film. However, even the talent couldn't save the bad writing, so that both the mysterious astronaut Spencer Armacost as well as his constantly concerned wife Jillian seem shallow and inconsistent in their motivations.
The story of the gradual change in Spencer's demeanor after his comeback from the dangerous mission was meant to build suspense, but instead it bores the viewer and makes one want to turn the movie off and call an early end on the whole movie night.
The critics' consensus about the quality of Rand Ravich's directorial debut was confirmed by the box office results. With an estimated budget of $75 million, The Astronaut's Wife hasn't even reached $20 million upon its international release. The sci-fi thriller is considered one of the worst box office bombs of 1999.
While Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron's careers survived this bomb of a movie, for Rand Ravich it was the first and last feature film he directed. Moreover, the writer-director stayed away from full-length feature films for 25 years, only recently returning to write for 2024's The Killer's Game.
Where to Watch The Astronaut’s Wife?
If you're interested in giving The Astronaut's Wife a try and deciding for yourself if the thriller is as bad as the reviews make it out to be, you can rent or buy it on Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, or Apple TV.