When In The Lost Lands, a new fantasy film based on a short story by George R. R. Martin (Game of Thrones), directed by Paul W. S. Anderson and with a very solid cast led by Mila Jovovich and David Bautista hit the movie theaters in March 2025, it mostly got blasted by the critics, which possibly led to the fact that it had a middling success then. Yet now, when it hit the streaming services (currently showing on Netflix, Prime Video, iTunes, and Rakuten internationally), it turned into a big success, particularly in U.K., Ireland and quite a few other places.
So what is going on with this fantasy film, that has suddenly turned from a flop into a hit? This is a great watch this Labor Day Weekend and beyond.
In The Lost Lands is not so lost anymore
It all started with a big promise: having a George R. R. Martin short story as a base. Martin as one of the screenwriters (also Constantin Werner and Paul W.S. Anderson) and directed by Anderson (Shopping, Mortal Kombat), In the Lost Lands made sure to stand out with a solid cast including Mila Jovovich (The Fifth Element, Resident Evil) and David Bautista (Guardians of The Galaxy, Blade Runner 2049). Arly Jover (Blade, A Prominent Patient), Amara Okereke, and Fraser James (Yardie) have prominent roles. All of this put together, the expectations were high, particularly among the Game of Thrones and other fantasy film lovers.
The storyline is something that fantasy film lovers (especially those of the dystopian kind) often dream like—the Earth becomes a complete wasteland, where a which named Gray Alys (Jovovich), in the service of the queen (Okereke), enlists the services of a hunter named Boyce (Bautista) to hunt down a werewolf and deliver its powers for the queen.
Yet, when the film hit the theatres in early 2025, most of the critics lambasted it, with IMDb giving it a meagre 4.7/10, and Rotten Tomatoes going further down with 23% critic score. The film didn’t fare that much better in theatres, with a hefty budget of $55 million, it only brought in $1.9 million in the U.S. and $6.2 million worldwide. But then, the film hit streamers in August, and it literally exploded.
Mid-August, the film entered the Netflix Top 10, hitting #2 in U.K. and Ireland at the time, #1 in Poland and registered well in places like Brazil, New Zealand and Venezuela on some other platforms which currently show the film. So what does it all tells us?
Well, first of all, the audiences might be dissuaded by critics when they have to pay for theatre tickets, but when it comes to streaming services, there is no way of holding them back. At the same time, it turns out that Martin’s name still carries a clout with fantasy film lovers, particularly if the director and key actors have a good reputation.