12 Terrible Movies That Blew Awesome Concepts

6. In Time

The Pitch

In the 22nd century, humans have been engineered to stop ageing at 25, after which they receive a one-year countdown to death. As a result, time has become a universal currency, where acquiring more of it - either through work or more nefarious means - is of the utmost importance.

Oscar-nominated screenwriter Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, The Truman Show) was hired to write and direct the film, and given his history of penning socially relevant sci-fi films, it was easy to be excited from the outset.

What Went Wrong

This is perhaps the textbook example of "incredible premise, awful execution", because Niccol deserves a wealth of credit for coming up with such a unique allegorical hook.

But despite some intriguing world-building, a lack of consistent in-universe logic alongside two utterly unremarkable protagonists (Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried) makes In Time more a frustrating, weirdly generic experience than anyone ever anticipated.

Laughably unsubtle in its examination of class divides in contemporary society while serving up limp action sequences, Niccol's film doesn't even begin to the scratch the surface of its ludicrous potential.

Fingers crossed somebody remakes it in the future - perhaps even re-tooling it into a TV show? - and actually gets it right.