Harrison Ford’s history with science fiction is one for the record books, but that’s what you get for playing scruffy-looking nerf herder Han Solo and beating the likes of Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, and Sean Connery for the gig in “Blade Runner.” As much as the legendary star has brushed off the filmic legacies he helped create, they undoubtedly cemented the career he has now. However, after looking back, there’s one sci-fi hybrid that had all the right ingredients to be a mad-capped hit and instead ended up becoming a box-office flop of intergalactic proportions.
Back in 2011, Ford signed on alongside Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, and Sam Rockwell in the Jon Favreau-directed comic book adaptation, “Cowboys & Aliens.” Favreau was riding high at this point in his career, having helped build the foundations of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by directing “Iron Man” and “Iron Man 2” in 2008 and 2010. Looking to a different corner of the comic book store, “Cowboys & Aliens” adapted a 2006 sci-fi Western and cast Craig as an amnesiac outlaw who, along with a cattleman (Ford), is forced to fight back against space invaders packing more than just six-shooters. Unfortunately, as much of a fun ride as this might seem, audiences didn’t quite click with the film, mainly because of the competition it was up against.
Cowboys & Aliens didn’t land well in theaters
With a budget of $163 million, “Cowboys & Aliens” barely broke even, drawing in just $176 million at the box office, according to The Numbers. The film was facing tough competition when it released in late July 2021, with Chris Evans making his debut as the star-spangled superhero in “Captain America: The First Avenger” — a universe that Ford would be part of years later – and being beaten to the number one spot by “The Smurfs.” This was also the week before we’d meet the chest-thumping leader, Caesar (Andy Serkis) in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” so there was some stout competition.
Even sharing the same space as Smurfs and super-smart apes, “Cowboys & Aliens” didn’t hit the mark for critics. It earned only 44% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Time Out wrote that, “what started as ‘True Grit’-meets-‘War of the Worlds’ ends up closer to — whisper it — ‘Wild Wild West.'” Slate also deemed the film a missed opportunity, saying that, “it’s fun to think about what ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ might have been if any creativity had crept past the title page.”
While Ford would have another go at science fiction two years later with the also ill-received “Ender’s Game,” by 2015 he’d find his home again with “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens,” which still stands as the most successful film in his career. It proves that, even with all the movie’s issues, the nerf herder is really all we need.
