''The Lost City'' is a 2022 American

action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Aaron and Adam Nee Aaron and Adam Nee, sometimes referred to as the Nee brothers, are an American filmmaking duo best known for their feature films ''The Last Romantic'' (2006), ''Band of Robbers'' (2015), and '' The Lost City'' (2022). Collaborative history Alth ...

, who co-wrote the screenplay with

Oren Uziel Oren Uziel (born June 28, 1974) is an American film screenwriter, director, and producer best known for his work on '' Mortal Kombat: Rebirth'' (2010), ''22 Jump Street'' (2014), ''The Cloverfield Paradox'' (2018), and '' The Lost City'' (2022) ...

and

Dana Fox Dana Fox (born September 18, 1976) is an American screenwriter. She is best known as the writer of the films ''The Wedding Date'' (2005), ''What Happens in Vegas'' (2008) and ''Wicked (2024 film), Wicked'' (2024, co-written with Winnie Holzman), ...

, based on a story by

Seth Gordon Seth Lewis Gordon is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and film editor. He has produced and directed for film and television, including for PBS, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the United Nations Staff 1% for Developme ...

. Starring

Sandra Bullock Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and film producer. The List of highest-paid film actors, highest-paid actress of 2010 and 2014, Sandra Bullock filmography, Bullock's filmography spans both comedy and drama, ...

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his Breakthrough role, breakthrough with the sports comedy film ''She's the Man'' (2006) and t ...

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. Radcliffe rose to fame at age twelve for portraying the title character in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He starred in all eight films in the series, from '' Harry Potter a ...

Da'Vine Joy Randolph Da'Vine Joy Randolph (; born May 21, 1986) is an American actress. She was named one of 100 most influential people in the world by ''Time'' in 2024. Randolph gained recognition for her portrayal of psychic Oda Mae Brown in the Broadway product ...

and

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...

, the film follows a romance novelist and her cover model, who must escape a billionaire who wants her to find a lost ancient burial chamber described in one of her books. The project was announced in October 2020 with Bullock joining as producer and star and Tatum joining that December; the rest of the cast was announced the following year. Filming took place in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

from May to August 2021. The film premiered at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

on March 12, 2022, and was theatrically released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

in the United States on March 25, 2022. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed over $190 million worldwide against a $68 million budget.

Plot

Loretta Sage, a former archaeology researcher, writes romance-adventure novels centered on the fictional Dr. Angela Lovemore and her romantic interest Dash McMahon. To promote the latest book, her publisher Beth Hatten puts her on a book tour with Alan Caprison, the cover model for Dash, despite her reclusiveness after her husband's death five years ago. After a disastrous start, mostly due to the fans' obsession with Alan's Dash persona, Loretta is kidnapped by billionaire Abigail Fairfax. He has discovered a lost city on a remote volcanic

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

island and is convinced that the Crown of Fire, a priceless treasure belonging to the ancient King Kalaman and Queen Taha, is located there. Knowing the books were partially based on Loretta's research, Fairfax wants her to decipher an ancient clue to the treasure. When she declines, he sedates her and flies her to the island. Alan, who is secretly enamored with Loretta, witnesses her kidnapping. He contacts former

Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

turned

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

operative Jack Trainer. Following her smart watch's location, they begin a rescue. Jack breaches Fairfax's compound and frees Loretta. However, as the trio attempts to flee, Jack is shot in the head by Fairfax's mercenaries. Loretta and Alan escape into the jungle. The pair spend a day running from Fairfax's henchmen, then spend a night in a hammock in the jungle, before reaching a nearby village. Upon hearing a local singing a

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

, Loretta deduces that the crown is hidden in a

cenote A cenote ( or ; ) is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting when a collapse of limestone bedrock exposes groundwater. The term originated on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, where the ancient Maya commonly used cenotes for water supplies, and ...

in the jungle. However, Fairfax's group captures her, and then Alan when he chases them on a motorcycle. Fairfax forces them to reveal the treasure's location. After traveling to the tombsite by boat, they discover it is not a treasure-filled monument of Taha and Kalaman's power, but a secret place for the queen to grieve her husband's death. Her Crown of Fire was made of red seashells the king gathered to show his love for her. The actual treasure of the legend was the inseparable love between the king and queen. Enraged, Fairfax seals Loretta and Alan inside the tomb as the volcano erupts. Rafi, one of Fairfax's henchmen, has a change of heart and leaves a

crowbar A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially gooseneck, or pig bar, or in Australia a jemmy, is a lever consisting of a metal bar with a single curved end and flat ...

inside the tomb, so they can free themselves. Rafi then takes the boat and abandons Fairfax on the island. Loretta and Alan escape by swimming through an underwater tunnel with the current. Beth arrives with the local coast guard, who rescue Loretta and Alan and arrest Fairfax. Sometime later, Loretta's next book, based on her adventure with Alan, is a success, and they share a kiss on the beach at the end of the book tour. In a mid-credits scene, Loretta and Alan attend a meditation class where they unexpectedly meet Jack, who survived being shot in the head.

Cast

as Loretta Sage, a successful yet depressed best-selling romance novelist. Bullock also plays Dr. Angela Lovemore, the heroine in her book series. *

as Alan Caprison, a dimwitted cover model for Loretta's novel ''The Lost City of D''. Tatum also plays Dash McMahon, the hero in her book series. *

as Abigail Fairfax, an egotistical, eccentric billionaire who seeks to find the treasure of the Lost City. *

as Beth Hatten, Loretta's publisher *

as Jack Trainer, former

turned

operative *

Oscar Nunez Óscar Núñez (born November 18, 1958), sometimes credited as Oscar Nunez, is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as the Dunder Mifflin accountant Óscar Martínez on NBC's ''The Office''. The accolades he has recei ...

as Oscar, an eccentric cargo plane pilot * Patti Harrison as Allison, Loretta's social media manager *

Bowen Yang Bowen Yang (born November 6, 1990) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, and writer. Yang was hired to join the writing staff of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' in September 2018, ahead of its 44th season, and a year la ...

as Ray, the moderator for the book conference In addition, the film's co-director / co-screenwriter, Adam Nee, has a cameo as Officer Sawyer.

Production

In October 2020, it was announced

would star in the film ''The Lost City of D'', with

directing from a screenplay by

and

, with Bullock serving as a producer under her

Fortis Films Fortis Films is an American film and television production company founded in 1995 by actress and producer Sandra Bullock. It is known for producing the films '' Hope Floats'' (1998), '' Miss Congeniality'' (2000), ''Two Weeks Notice'' (2002), '' ...

banner, and

to distribute. Bullock originally passed on the project because she felt the story was "outdated" due to it being in development for seven years. That December,

was cast as the male lead. Between March and April 2021, Patti Harrison,

, and

joined the cast, with Pitt and Yang appearing in cameo roles. Aaron and Adam Nee originally considered

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor and musician. The recipient of numerous accolades in a career on screen spanning four decades, he is known for his leading roles in action films, his amiable public imag ...

for the role of Jack Trainer, but he was too busy.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in May 2021 in the

, including Samaná,

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

Casa de Campo The Casa de Campo (, for Spanish: ''Country House'') is the largest public park in Madrid. It is situated west of central Madrid, Spain. It gets its name 'Country House' because it was once a royal hunting estate, located just west of the R ...

, ( Altos de Chavon) Monte Plata Province and Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios. It wrapped on August 16, 2021.

Release

''The Lost City'' premiered at the

film festival on March 12, 2022. In October 2021, it was announced that ''The Lost City of D'' had been retitled ''The Lost City'' and that it would be theatrically released on March 25, 2022, after previously having been set for April 15, 2022. On March 1, 2022, the film's theatrical release in Russia was canceled in light of the country's invasion of Ukraine. The film became available to stream on

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

on May 10, 2022. It was also released on

EPIX MGM+ (formerly known as Epix; pronounced ''epics'' and stylized as eᴘix), is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the MGMPlus Entertainment subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which is itself a subsidiary ...

on the same day as part of Paramount's pay-one window deal with the company. According to data from

Samba TV Samba TV is a television technology company that offers real-time insights and audience analytics. It was founded in 2008 by early employees of BitTorrent, including Samba TV's current chief executive officer, Ashwin Navin. The company develops ...

, 1.5 million US households watched ''The Lost City'' in its first six days of streaming. It was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

, and

Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray supports 4K UHD (3840 × 2160 pixel resolution) video at frame rates up to 60 progre ...

on July 26 by

Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, originally Paramount Home Video, and operating as the namesake film studio since 2022) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures. The division oversees Para ...

Reception

Box office

''The Lost City'' grossed $105.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $87.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $192.9 million. In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside ''

Infinite Storm ''Infinite Storm'' is a 2022 American drama film, drama adventure film directed by Małgorzata Szumowska, co-directed by Michał Englert, and with a screenplay by Josh Rollins, based on the article "High Places: Footprints in the Snow Lead to a ...

'' and '' RRR'' and was projected to gross $20–34 million from 4,228 theaters in its opening weekend. The film grossed $11.5 million on its first day, including $2.5 million from Thursday preview screenings. It went on to debut to $30.5 million, displacing '' The Batman'' from atop the box office. Its debut was the second-largest for Paramount during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, behind ''

A Quiet Place Part II ''A Quiet Place Part II'' is a 2020 American post-apocalyptic horror film written, directed and co-produced by John Krasinski. It is the sequel to the 2018 film ''A Quiet Place'', following the family from the first film as they continue to nav ...

.'' It also posted the highest opening weekend for an original film since the pandemic. In its second weekend, the film made $14.7 million for a fall of 52% and was placed second at the box office behind ''

Morbius Morbius (born Michael Morbius, also known as Morgan Michaels, Morbius the Living Vampire and Nikos Michaels) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and originally designed by pen ...

''. It then made $9 million in its third weekend, finishing third. In the film's tenth weekend of release, it made $2.3 million, crossing the $100 million domestic mark in the process. Outside the US and Canada, the film grossed $3.7 million from sixteen international markets in its opening weekend.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 79% based on 273 reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''The Lost City'' doesn't sparkle quite as brightly as some classic treasure-hunting capers, but its stars' screwball chemistry make this movie well worth romancing." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, it has a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 60 out of 100 based on 53 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a fil ...

gave it an 81% positive score, with 61% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Manohla Dargis Manohla June Dargis ( ) is an American film critic. She is the chief film critic for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Career Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', Dargis ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' said "It's too bad that ''The Lost City'' isn't more ambitious, because a woman writing her dreams into reality is a potentially rich riff on the Pygmalion and Galatea myth... While '' Raiders f the Lost Ark' transcends its inspirations with wit and

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

's filmmaking and '' Romancing he Stone' tries hard to do the same, ''The Lost City'' remains a copy of a copy." Siddhant Adlakha of

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

giving film a 6 out of 10, calling it "a decent action-comedy that coasts on the presence of its stars". Peter Debruge of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said, "The result can feel a little rickety in places, but the Nee brothers — who share screenplay credit with Oren Uziel and Dana Fox — have punched it up with off-color jokes, looped over moments when the characters' mouths are off-camera. In this and myriad other ways, ''The Lost City'' proves they do in fact make 'em like they used to." Writing for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', David Fear said "The movie itself is trying to excavate a long-lost genre: the big-budget action-adventure movie-star rom-com. It wants to be a modern ''Romancing the Stone'' so badly you can almost see the flop-sweat dripping down the screen."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lost City (2022 film), The 2022 films 2022 action adventure films 2022 comedy films 2022 romantic comedy films 2020s American films 2020s adventure comedy films 2020s English-language films 4DX films American action comedy films American adventure comedy films American romantic comedy films English-language action adventure films English-language action comedy films English-language romantic comedy films English-language adventure comedy films Films about kidnapping Films about treasure hunting Jungle adventure films Films about writers Metafictional works Films produced by Dana Fox Films set in the Atlantic Ocean Films set in fictional countries Films set on fictional islands Films shot in the Dominican Republic Films directed by Aaron and Adam Nee Films with screenplays by Aaron and Adam Nee Films with screenplays by Dana Fox Films with screenplays by Oren Uziel Films scored by Pinar Toprak Films produced by Sandra Bullock Paramount Pictures films