10 Big Films From 2013 You've Probably Already Forgotten About

4. The Host

U.S. Release Date: March 29th What was this about again? A race of aliens conquer Earth by taking over human bodies and erasing their memories, except for one teenage girl who appears to be immune from getting her memory wiped. Now she has to protect the people she cares about from being taken over by these aliens. While "Beautiful Creatures" failed to capture the imaginations of pre-teens everywhere, surely the next big Stephanie Meyer adaptation can do the trick? No, not really. Granted, "The Host" was made on a modest budget ($40 million) so it was not expected to have blockbuster-like profits. Still, this movie performed pretty badly even by modest standards. It was released to over 3,000 theaters nationwide and came in sixth place on its opening weekend. Afterwards, it did not do much better than that, grossing just over half of its budget in the US, while barely making much of an impression to the rest of the world. Sometimes these things happen. Hollywood sees a franchise become successful so they want to replicate it. Adapting another Stephanie Meyer novel probably seemed like a no-brainer in the middle of the Twilight saga, but soon it became apparent that the name "Stephanie Meyer" alone is not enough to get teens to the theaters. For some strange reason, her particular brand of "vampires vs. wolves/love triangle" stories just happened to have struck a chord with pre-teens. It had the right cast and it just came out at the right time. The strangest aspect of "The Host" was that it was adapted for the screen and directed by Andrew Niccol, who is known for such films as "Gattaca", "Lord of War", and "In Time." A fairly respected filmmaker in his own right, it just seems curious that Niccol would bother to take on this material. He wound up receiving the worst reviews of his career. Luckily for him, it seems he's been given a second chance. Or, perhaps nobody remembers "The Host" even came out.