After being earmarked for success several years ago, Cailee Spaeny has lived up to her potential with her recent work. She earned an Oscar nomination and won the Volpi Cup for her performance in Sofia Coppola‘s unconventional biopic Priscilla, and more recently, received acclaim for her work in Civil War, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and the second season of Netflix’s Beef. Spaeny also experienced box-office success with Alien: Romulus, which grossed $350 million worldwide. She will next star in the most expensive A24 movie ever made, director Alex Garland‘s fantasy adaptation Elden Ring. One of Spaeny’s earliest leading roles came in a movie that was even more expensive. The movie in question underperformed at the box office and brought its franchise to a screeching halt. But it saw a resurgence on HBO Max recently, eight years after its theatrical release.
The film also featured Star Wars: The Force Awakens star John Boyega and Clint Eastwood‘s son, Scott. The movie marked the feature directorial debut of Steven S. DeKnight, who remains best known for his work on Marvel’s Daredevil series on Netflix and for creating the Starz show Spartacus. The movie served as a sequel to Guillermo del Toro‘s first large-scale project, Pacific Rim, which grossed around $410 million globally against a reported budget of $190 million in 2013. That film was distributed by Warner Bros., but the sequel was distributed by Universal. The second movie was produced mainly because of the extraordinary performance of its predecessor in China; to further capitalize on the Middle Kingdom audience, the sequel cast Chinese stars such as Jing Tian and Zhang Jin in supporting roles.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
The Sci-Fi Sequel Received Mediocre Reviews
We’re talking, of course, about Pacific Rim Uprising. Produced on a reported budget of $176 million, the movie grossed $291 million worldwide. It now holds a 42% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, Pacific Rim Uprising won’t win any points for subtlety or originality, but it delivers enough of the rock ’em-sock ’em robots-vs.-kaiju thrills that fans of the original will be looking for.” According to FlixPatrol, it was among the most watched movies on the domestic HBO Max chart this week, when the leaderboard was topped by The Long Walk. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
