'Jupiter Ascending' Movie Reviews: New Channing Tatum Film Gets Drubbing From Critics As Premiere Nears

When "Jupiter Ascending" debuts this week in over 3,150 cinemas, many critics are predicting that the film will sink quickly at the box office and be beaten by "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water."

This prediction is based on the ton of bad press and reviews the film has been getting since it was previewed by critics.

Forbes, for instance, described the film as a "beautiful muddle," saying it had not been served well by its overcomplicated plot and wafer-thin characters.

Signs that the film was going to be a box office dud started appearing last year when its release was postponed from July 2014 to February 2015. When the shift in the release date was announced last year, it was described as stunning by many critics as February is traditionally viewed as a bad month for film releases. Variety, like many other news outlets, said a delayed release meant the film would flop.

Added to a shifted release date, reports said the budget for the film rose to $175 million. Many industry experts said that such a big-budgeted film is in danger of not earning that amount in the United States although it could cut its losses overseas.

As for the plot of the movie, this has become a major talking point on social media sites. People who had previewed the movie said they could not understand it. The movie-rating website Rottentomatoes gave "Jupiter Ascending" a dismal 37 percent rating.

The negative press and bad reviews the film has been earning have largely been targeted at Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski, the directors. Many online entertainment news sources have pointed out that the duo has not released anything successful after the Matrix trilogy.

Meanwhile Mila Kunis, who stars as Jupiter Jones in the film, came to the Wachowski's defense, saying she did the film because she wanted to work with the duo. She added that she was not concerned that the film might do badly at the box office because she got to work with great people.