Rosamund Pike Reveals This 18%-Rated Game Adaptation "Could Have Ended" Her Career

Rosamund Pike is an actress known today for her roles in Gone Girl, Pride & Prejudice, and many other outstanding films. However, there is a dark spot in her filmography that she would rather forget.

In an episode of the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast, Pike candidly discussed the 2005 game adaptation Doom, calling it one of the worst movies ever made and admitting that it could have ended her career.

Rosamund Pike Says 2005's 'Doom' Was an "Absolute Bomb"

Rosamund Pike recalls that, following her success in the Bond movie Die Another Day, she believed she could conquer any genre:

“When I was making Pride and Prejudice, and I was having great fun in my cornfields in my bonnet, I get a call to be in an action franchise.

They're making a cinema version, a narrative version of the video game Doom. And I think in my bonnet, in my field of hay bales, ‘Yeah, I can do anything. I can jump on this hay bale in my crinoline.’”

She says that she felt out of place surrounded by a macho crew and guns. Pike admits that she was lucky that her career survived this failure:

“It was an absolute bomb. I mean, I probably could have ended my career. It was just probably one of the worst films ever made. I mean, it was a catastrophe.”

What Is 'Doom' About?

The action takes place on Mars at a remote research center. Communication has been cut off and development has halted.

A strict quarantine has been imposed on the base, and a squad of seasoned Marines with an arsenal of weapons has been sent to investigate. It soon becomes clear that the scientists have accidentally opened a portal to hell, unleashing monsters.

The squad must now survive and destroy the creatures before they reach Earth.

'Doom' Was Truly a Controversial Adaptation of the Cult Game

The 1993 game Doom forever changed the shooter genre, so its film adaptation was highly anticipated. However, Andrzej Bartkowiak's movie was mediocre, boring, and exhausting from start to finish.

Critics panned it for its weak plot, uninspired gameplay, and lack of atmosphere. The only thing that saves Doom from complete obscurity is a five-minute scene shot from a first-person perspective.

In it, the camera shows the war against monsters through the protagonist's eyes, mimicking Doom's gameplay.

This is the only moment when Doom stops being boring and becomes akin to a game and clearly, the creators devoted all their energy to this sequence. If the entire movie had been shot in this style, its fate might have been different.

What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'Doom'?

• Doom has 18% from critics and 34% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

• On IMDb, the movie has a score of 5.2/10.

• On Letterboxd, Doom scored 2.1/5.0.

Where to Watch 'Doom'?

Doom is available to buy or rent on Amazon Prime Video.