Aeon Flux would play much better in 2020, says the movie’s star Charlize Theron. Based on a series of bizarre animated shorts that originally aired on MTV, the sci-fi film Aeon Flux was Theron’s first major action vehicle after she won her Best Actress Oscar for Monster.
Of course, today Theron is known for taking on roles in action films like this year’s The Old Guard, but at the time she was taking a risk by diving into an action heavy role in a film like Aeon Flux. Unfortunately, the gamble didn’t pay off as the film failed to satisfy Aeon Flux cultists, and failed equally at attracting general audience interest. The movie ultimately made just $53 million on a reported budget of $62 million and Theron’s action movie career seemed dead on arrival.
However, appearing as the virtual guest of honor at the Comic-Con@Home 2020 event "Charlize Theron: Evolution of a Badass - An Action Hero Career Retrospective," the actress spoke about the experience of making Aeon Flux and said she believes the movie failed because it was just ahead of its time (via Comic-Con International):
Unfortunately thirty years ago there just wasn’t a lot of opportunity for women to do movies like this. And the first time that opportunity first showed itself was after I won my Academy Award in 2004. And it was really hard making that film, Aeon Flux. It was really hard in the sense that there were so many pre-conceived ideas and there were all these boxes that everybody wanted to kind of like squeeze you into. It was a character that I think today would be celebrated cinematically way more than it was in 2004. It was just hard and I remember the film that really didn’t play as well as everybody thought.
Theron also spoke to how the failure of Aeon Flux made it harder for her to score action roles later, as Hollywood was hesitant to give her a second chance after one flop. She said, “It was like, no, women can’t make these movies successful. It was harsh.” Obviously, Theron got the last laugh as she is now regarded as a true action star thanks to movies like Fury Road, Atomic Blonde and Netflix’s massive hit The Old Guard.
Indeed, the kinky and surreal Aeon Flux feels like the kind of quirky sci-fi action story that would have a much better chance to succeed today, especially if it was released on a streaming service like Netflix that would put it in front of people’s eyes without the need for expensive marketing. Selling Aeon Flux to general audiences in 2005 was of course a problem, as the material was incredibly strange and frankly did not make sense as the inspiration for a relatively big-budget mainstream movie, derived as it was from a cult animated show filled with bizarre sexual imagery and other general oddness.
In fact, one could easily see Aeon Flux being revisited now as a streaming series and working brilliantly. Theron herself likely would no longer wish to play the character of sexually adventurous futuristic mercenary Aeon Flux, but there are plenty of young actresses who would no doubt love to play the part, and Theron herself could of course produce the whole project. But it remains to be seen if Aeon Flux will actually get a second chance at life.
Source: Comic-Con International