Harrison Ford’s Sci-Fi Film Flops: Star Tossed Script After Just 30 Pages!

Sometimes an actor commits to a project without ever truly understanding its essence. This was the case for Harrison Ford about fifteen years ago with “Cowboys & Aliens,” a genre-blending film that combined science fiction and Western elements and faced a challenging fate at the box office.

Directed by Jon Favreau and based on a comic book by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, the movie centered on an unusual premise: a UFO and aliens landing in the middle of the Wild West. The screenplay was crafted by a trio familiar with big-budget productions—Roberto Orci (Transformers, Hawaii 5-0), Alex Kurtzman (recent Star Trek films), and Damon Lindelof (Lost). Despite these renowned contributors, Ford was left perplexed from his very first reading of the script (via SlashFilm).

An Unfathomable Script

As he later recounted, the actor couldn’t get past the first thirty pages before throwing the script across the room. He told Yahoo, “I read 30 pages, then I threw it across the room, called my agent and said, ‘I don’t get this.’ He told me, ‘Just have a little faith, this is how the world is moving now. You’re an old hand, maybe you don’t understand how things work. Read the rest of the script.’ I read the rest and still didn’t get it. I thought, ‘Why don’t I go see Jon Favreau?'”

This meeting with the director marked a turning point. Ford spoke with Favreau and the screenwriters, who then admitted that the script was still a work in progress. He remembers (via Cinema Blend): “I was impressed by what he had to say and by his collaborative spirit. I spoke with the writers and they made it clear they were still working on it.” However, these discussions did not immediately convince him.

It was ultimately a conversation with his co-star, Daniel Craig, that tipped the scales. Harrison Ford explained, “I met Daniel [Craig], who was very gracious and agreed to give my character more room. I then began to see the opportunity to play a character unlike those I had played before. I could enjoy the role of a character who didn’t need to be liked by anyone else. It was a chance to add some texture to the whole. I had a great time. I thought, ‘I’m in. This should be fun.’ And it was.”

An Exciting Venture, Yet a Commercial Flop

On set, the experience turned out to be positive for Ford. However, the audience did not follow suit. Earning approximately $174.82 million worldwide against an estimated budget of $163 million (excluding marketing), “Cowboys & Aliens” ended up being a clear commercial failure. This setback was another blow for Harrison Ford at that time, following the mixed reception of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

It wasn’t until “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” in 2015 that the actor would again enjoy massive popular success. More recently, he has returned to the world of comics starring in “Captain America: Brave New World,” and in the acclaimed Taylor Sheridan series derived from “Yellowstone,” “1923,” alongside Helen Mirren, proving that, despite some challenging detours, his career continues to evolve.

“Cowboys & Aliens” is available on DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD.

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