Tom Cruise's Steven Spielberg Sci-Fi Adaptation Is Taking Over the World

If there is one thing we know about being human, it's that we'll fight to the very end to ensure our people aren't wiped out. While we might run from foes exceedingly more powerful than we are, we ensure we find a way to survive. Nothing quite brings out this level of survival instinct than when we see humans faced with the terrifying prospect of an alien invasion of Earth. Alien invasions, for the most part, make for nearly perfect movies as they often blend intense sci-fi horror and gritty realism into one sizzling cocktail. In recent times, it's Alan Ritchson's gritty sci-fi/action thriller, War Machine, directed and co-written by Patrick Hughes that has recently put that spectacle on show.

However, alien invasion movies do not get any bigger than one that pulled two of the greatest minds in the entertainment industry — Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise. In 2005, the duo of Spielberg and Cruise came together to make the blockbuster hit, War of the Worlds. The Cruise-led story is based on a novel originally written by H.G. Wells in 1898 and terrified both readers and listeners in the earlier years of its advent into public space. Now, over two decades later, Spielberg's War of the Worlds is surging in popularity on streaming.

The gritty sci-fi and action thriller is available to stream on several streaming services in the United States, including HBO Max and Apple TV. Offering fans the opportunity to revisit one of Spielberg's most overlooked blockbusters, and they snapped up the opportunity. For instance, on Apple TV's charts for the week, War of the Worlds has secured Top 10 spots in several countries, including Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain among several others, per data obtained from FlixPatrol. This signifies that despite the passage of time, War of the Worlds remains a significantly popular movie and rightly so, given that the movie was also initially successful, having grossed more than $600 million during its original theatrical run.

What is Stephen Spielberg's 'War of the Worlds' About?

War of the Worlds is a sci-fi thriller that follows Ray Ferrier (Cruise), a single father living in New Jersey who has been divorced from his wife, Mary Ann, for some time. The state of their relationship has also strained the connection Ray has with his now estranged kids, Rachel and Robbie, who spend the weekends with him under shared custody rules. However, one such weekend turns into a living nightmare when Cruise's Ray realizes that Earth has become a target of an alien invasion. Tripods, as they are known, had been buried beneath the surface of the Earth centuries ago and had spawned in their neighborhood and across the globe. The invading aliens, Martians to be exact, had he and his family launched into a desperate race for survival.

Besides Cruise, who leads the cast as Ray Ferrier, the rest of the call sheet includes Dakota Fanning as Rachel Ferrier, Justin Chatwin as Robbie Ferrier, Miranda Otto as Mary Ann Ferrier, Tim Robbins as Harlan Ogilvy, Rick Gonzalez as Vincent, Yul Vazquez as Julio, and David Alan Basche as Tim.