Let’s start with the first logical question that comes to mind: Has anyone even seen “Battlefield Earth“? Regardless, the will of a big box office movie star is apparently bigger than that of the viewing public. You see, John Travolta — aka Mr. “Saturday Night Fever” then Mr. “Pulp Fiction” then Mr. “Battlefield Earth” — has said in a press junket for his latest film, “Lucky Numbers,” that he’s all game to turn 2000’s dreadlocked alien sci-fi bomb “Battlefield Earth” into a sequel.
Specially, his words were “Sure. Yeah” when asked whether the world can expect a “Battlefield 2” in its future.
“The bottom line is that I feel really good about it. Here I was taking big chances, breaking a new genre,” Travolta was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“I am so thrilled, believe it or not, at the outcome because I didn’t believe I could get it done.”
And the outcome was a film so unanimously dissed that it has perversely nabbed a place in movie history as being one of the worst movies ever made.
But the film was not only critically disclaimed but was also a financial disaster. “Battlefield Earth” cost a reported $70 million to make but grossed only $21.5 million domestically.
But fear not. According to the Reuters report, Travolta defended the flop, saying that it has been gaining fans over the Internet.
The 41-year-old actor also added that “Battlefield Earth” got a critical whooping because critics have a history of disliking sci-fi movies.
Right. That explains “Star Wars.”
“I felt better about everything when George Lucas and Quentin Tarantino and a lot of people that I felt knew what they were doing saw it and thought it was a great piece of science fiction,” Travolta continued.
“The book stood for something classic, and this hopefully will, too.”
“Battlefield Earth,” is, of course, based on the 1980 book by the daddy of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard. And like the film, the book is about a troop of ugly aliens trying to run Earth.
In the film, Travolta starred as one of the leader aliens. And in real life, he was the film’s producer and the driving force behind bringing the Hubbard tome to the silver screen.
The actor’s newest film, “Lucky Numbers,” open Friday.
