海角大神

Many critics say moviegoers should avoid hitching a ride with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence in the sci-fi film 鈥淧assengers.鈥�

But with Pratt and Lawrence鈥檚 statuses as two of the most successful movie stars currently working, will audiences still turn up, or will the bad reviews keep them away?

鈥淧assengers鈥� is about two people traveling on a spaceship whose inhabitants have been put to sleep for the journey to a new planet. Jim (Pratt) and Aurora (Lawrence) wake up 90 years before the ship has reached its destination 鈥� and start to fall in love.聽

The film will be released Wednesday, Dec. 21. Yet many critics have already weighed in and reviews have not been positive, with the movie currently holding a low, 33-percent rating on the website Rotten Tomatoes.

Today, Hollywood blockbusters are mostly planned around characters or familiar concepts (Batman, Star Wars, Fast & Furious, etc.) rather than the actors starring in them.

"Once upon a time, it didn't matter if it was a Western or an adventure or a comedy," Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University's Newhouse School, told 海角大神 earlier this year. "People went to see actors. And I don't think that's changed. People still have their favorite actors. But I think the strongest brands in Hollywood are now characters and franchises."聽

Star power along is no longer enough for savvy audiences. "There's obviously fan bases for everybody, but to competitively open a big weekend movie exclusively based on, you know, the star's name, I think is less common than it used to be,鈥� Professor Thompson said.聽

However, 鈥淧assengers鈥� was seen as a possible blockbuster because of the popularity of Pratt and Lawrence. Pratt has now starred in two big blockbusters, 2014鈥檚 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy鈥� and 2015鈥檚 鈥淛urassic World.鈥� Lawrence is known for not only the 鈥淗unger Games鈥� franchise but hits like the Oscar-nominated movies 鈥淎merican Hustle鈥� and 鈥淪ilver Linings Playbook.鈥澛�

In fact, Thompson named Lawrence as a possible exception to the rule that an actor can鈥檛 draw an audience based on name alone.聽

And expectations for 鈥淧assengers鈥� was high, largely based on the casting. 鈥淪ony鈥檚 sci-fi romance thriller 鈥楶assengers鈥� starring Lawrence and Chris Pratt is expected to be a great match between stars and genre, continuing the box office streak of thinking-man sci-fi pics,鈥� Deadline writer Anthony D鈥橝lessandro wrote.聽

But will the plethora of poor reviews now make moviegoers stay away?聽

Just last week, bad reviews arguably scuttled a film starring an actor once seen as one of the biggest box office draws around. 鈥淐ollateral Beauty,鈥� which stars Will Smith as a man struggling with grief, also features a marquee cast of top-notch actors, including Helen Mirren, Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, and Keira Knightley. Yet the film opened last weekend in fourth place, taking in just $7 million domestically.聽

Variety writer Brent Lang noted the poor notices that the movie received in discussing the film鈥檚 slow opening weekend.聽

鈥淭he drama about a grieving ad executive (Will Smith) was savaged by critics and only managed to eke out a paltry $7 million debut for a fourth-place finish,鈥� Mr. Lang wrote. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a rough start for the picture and continues Smith鈥檚 bumpy period at the box office.鈥澛�

The bad reviews for 鈥淧assengers鈥� could take the film down the same path as 鈥淐ollateral Beauty.鈥� Or perhaps Pratt and Lawrence will be enough to pull in a significant audiences despite the thumbs down by many professional film critics.