Battlefield Earth (2000)

Battlefield Earth is a 2000 American science fiction action film directed by Roger Christian from a script by Corey Mandell and J. David Shapiro. Based on the 1982 novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, Battlefield Earth is set in the year 3000 and follows a human rebellion against the "Psychlos", a tyrannical alien species that has ruled Earth for a thousand years. John Travolta, who produced the film, stars as main antagonist Terl alongside Barry Pepper and Forest Whitaker.

Before his death in 1986, Hubbard himself had campaigned for a Hollywood adaptation of his novel since its publication, asking support from Scientology figures in the industry, including Travolta. After the financial and critical success of 1994's Pulp Fiction revitalized Travolta's career, he decided to use his newfound influence to revive and lead the project with the involvement of other Scientologist figures, although funding from major studios proved troublesome to obtain due to concerns regarding the script and Hubbard's connections to Scientology. In 1998, it was picked up by the independent production company Franchise Pictures, which specialized in rescuing pet projects. Production began in 1999, largely funded by the German distribution company Intertainment AG, and with Travolta personally contributing millions of dollars; he envisioned the film as the first in a duology, as it only adapts the first half of the novel.

Battlefield Earth premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on May 10, 2000, followed by a wide release on May 12 by Morgan Creek Productions, Inc. (through Warner Bros.). It received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics, who lambasted its writing, disjointedness, acting and visuals. It was also a box office bomb, grossing $29.7 million worldwide against a $44 million budget. Met with widespread derision from both audiences and mainstream media, Travolta stayed away from the film after its opening weekend. It was immediately labelled, and remains regarded as, one of the worst films ever made and the worst-received film in Travolta's career, ridiculed for its dialogue, performances, Psychlo makeup and overuse of Dutch angles. It earned a total of eighteen awards from different sources, all pejorative and recognizing its poor qualities, including a then-record of eight wins at the Golden Raspberry Awards, which later named it "Worst Picture of the Decade" in 2010.

In 2004, Franchise Pictures was sued by its investors and went bankrupt after it emerged that it had fraudulently overstated the film's budget by $31 million. This, coupled with the film's poor reception, ended Travolta's plans for a sequel that would have adapted the second half of the novel.