Prime Video’s new screenlife take on War of the Worlds was widely panned upon its release — and has even faced accusations of blatant product placement for Amazon. But producer Patrick Aiello has insisted there isn’t any product placement, and there never was intended to be any, especially not directly related to Amazon.
“Amazon didn’t see it until it was all the way done. We never intended for Amazon to release the movie,” he explained in an interview with Toni’s Film Club alongside editor Charles Ancelle. “We always thought Universal was going to release the movie theatrically.”
David Bostick appears in the film, which was made during the pandemic-fueled lockdown, as an Amazon delivery driver, which of course added to the speculation — but choosing to make him part of that workforce was a calculated creative decision.
“In the early months… when you weren’t going to the grocery store and you couldn’t get toilet paper,” Aiello continued. “Who was bringing us – individually, to all of our homes – all of these products to keep us going, keep us neutral, keep us surviving? Amazon drivers.”
He added: “These individuals are unsung heroes. They are not identified as such, it’s not people’s dream to become delivery people, but at the end of the day, they are rendering a personal service to humanity, and they are doing so without ego.”
That said, there’s even more apparent product placement in the film — which originally had a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes when it dropped but has since gone up to 2%. There’s also a moment in the film where a Prime drone is featured with the logo prominently displayed. “The reason Charles and I decided to put the Amazon Prime Air bezel on the drone screen was because we needed to clearly differentiate the otherwise static screens of Cubes off the screen,” Aiello explained.
Ancelle also noted: “There are two drone feeds in that scene… it was very confusing for a time in the edit when you didn’t have the Prime Air overlay.”
The War of the Worlds remake stars Ice Cube as a homeland security officer who is trying to save the world from an alien invasion through his computer. The film, which was directed by Rich Lee, is told completely through his computer screen and is now available to stream on Prime.
It has been widely panned by critics and audiences alike. The Telegraph’s scathing 1/5 review carried the headline: “Amazon’s War of the Worlds update should never have been released… The only thing stunning about this HG Wells retelling is the fact that it has seen daylight.”
“It is silly, shoddy and features far too much of rapper-turned-leading man Ice Cube staring at a computer screen while looking as if he’s working through a reasonably urgent digestive ailment,” the Telegraph’s review continued. “Like a heat-ray in reverse, it leeches all the fun out of what should be an epic tale of alien invasion.”
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
