Release: The Mars Room

 

The Mars Room

Genre: Drama

Director: Desiree Akhavan

Writer: Rosie JoLove & Rachel Hallett Hardcastle

Based on the novel by Rachel Kushner

Cast: Olivia Cooke, Scoot McNairy, Sterling K. Brown, Dane DeHaan, Adria Arjona, Brian Michael Smith, Isabela Merced, Brianna Hildebrand, Zazie Beetz, Pom Klementieff, Laverne Cox, O-T Fagbenle

Budget: $29,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $9,907,778

Foreign Box Office: $4,001,949

Total Profit: -$37,548,013

Reaction: Our marketing department had a really hard time figuring out how to market this film. None of the actors are big enough names to really base a marketing campaign around. And if a movie is hard to sell, then it is hard to find an audience for it. 

"This adaptation, of what I've been told is a good novel, tries to do more than a 2-hour film can accomplish with less-than-desirable results. Some of the characters are interesting - although there are a couple too many to keep track of - but the story lacked flow and felt disjointed. Olivia Cooke and Scoot McNairy were both very good in the lead roles, even if the chaotic story around them wasn't all that appealing." - Jeremy Raren, RottenTomatoes.com  

"Writers Rosie JoLove and Rachel Hallett Hardcastle don't appear to have done much to make this novel work better on the big screen. It's a difficult story - both in what is told and how it is told. The frustrating story wastes a good performance from Olivia Cooke, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite young actresses." - Dave Manning, Ridgefield Press

"After seeing the actors involved in The Mars Room I truly wanted to like it. It however fell flat, like most novel adaptations here at LRF do. I am not sure if it's the translation from book to screen or whether it is the books Rosie and Rachel both choose to write about. The one saving grace is actually Desiree Akhavan's hand behind the camera, something about it just makes me excited for her future in the business." - Jonah Wells, IndieWire

Rated R for violence, sexual content/nudity, thematic material and language