# The Invasion (film)
**The Invasion** is a 2007 American science fiction horror film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, written by David Kajganich, and starring [Nicole Kidman](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicole-kidman) and [Daniel Craig](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-craig). It is the fourth screen adaptation of Jack Finney's novel *The Body Snatchers*, after *Invasion of the Body Snatchers* (1956), *Invasion of the Body Snatchers* (1978), and *Body Snatchers* (1993), and it updates the story by replacing the original's plant pods with an alien infection spread through sleep[1](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-invasion-2007). The production is known for its post-completion reworking: Warner Bros. was dissatisfied with Hirschbiegel's cut and brought in the Wachowskis to rewrite material and [James McTeigue](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-mcteigue) to direct reshoots, both uncredited[2](https://www.joblo.com/the-invasion-2007/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | August 17, 2007, wide release by Warner Bros.; 99 minutes; rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images, and terror[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Invasion-The) |
| Cast | Nicole Kidman as Carol Bennell, Daniel Craig as Ben Driscoll, Jeremy Northam as Tucker Kaufman, Jeffrey Wright as Dr. Stephen Galeano, Veronica Cartwright as Wendy Lenk[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/invasion) |
| Premise | An alien virus aboard a crashed space shuttle transforms sleeping people into unfeeling drones; a Washington, D.C. psychiatrist discovers her son may hold the key to stopping the spread[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/invasion) |
| Budget and gross | $80,000,000 budget; $15,074,191 domestic, $25,096,367 international, $40,170,558 worldwide[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0427392/) |
| Opening weekend | $5,951,409 from 2,776 theaters, ranking No. 5[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Invasion-The) |
| Critical scores | 20% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 163 reviews; Metascore 45 on Metacritic[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/invasion) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-invasion/) |
| Reshoots | 17 days in Los Angeles, January 9–27, 2007, adding at least $10 million to the budget[2](https://www.joblo.com/the-invasion-2007/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and approach
The story follows Carol Bennell (Kidman), a Washington, D.C. psychiatrist who notices unsettling behavioral changes in her patients and in her ex-husband Tucker Kaufman (Northam), a CDC official who has examined a crashed space shuttle. The shuttle carried an extraterrestrial organism that infects human hosts during REM sleep, overriding their emotions and folding them into a collective, emotionless hive mind. Bennell and her colleague Dr. [Ben Driscoll](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-driscoll) (Craig) are among the few who remain aware of the epidemic, and Carol realizes her young son Oliver (Jackson Bond) may be the key to stopping it[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/invasion) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-invasion/).
The adaptation drops the pods and alien shrieks of earlier versions in favor of a transformative infection, though the infected still convert people in their sleep and many story beats carry over[7](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/article/ed2709062660/). Reviewers noted a thematic shift: the first two film versions emphasized that a world without emotion is a world without love, while this film, like the 1993 version before it, argues that a world without emotion is a world without conflict[8](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2007/08/invasion/). The film's imagery of worldwide peace treaties and reconciled adversaries, presented as a sinister sign of the infection's spread, drew comment from several critics[9](https://filmthreat.com/reviews/the-invasion/).
## Production troubles and reshoots
Warner Bros. held a test screening after principal photography and rejected Hirschbiegel's version. The studio hired Lana and Lilly Wachowski to rewrite the screenplay and oversee reshoots; initial reports put the rewritten portion at roughly 30 percent, but later accounts say it grew closer to two-thirds of the film. [The Wachowskis](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-wachowskis) brought in James McTeigue, director of *[V for Vendetta](https://www.edgepedia.org/v-for-vendetta-film)* (2005), to direct the reshoots, and both the writers and McTeigue remained uncredited[2](https://www.joblo.com/the-invasion-2007/) • [10](https://www.slashfilm.com/495903/the-wachowski-brothers-rework-the-invasion/). The stated goal was to reduce dialogue, add action, and deliver a clearer ending[2](https://www.joblo.com/the-invasion-2007/).
The reshoots ran 17 days in Los Angeles, from January 9 to 27, 2007, thirteen months after the main shoot ended, and added at least $10 million to the budget[2](https://www.joblo.com/the-invasion-2007/). In one of the newly added action scenes, a car chase in which Carol escapes infected pursuers while driving a Jaguar XJ6, the towing rig took a wet-pavement turn too sharply and hit a downtown Los Angeles traffic light; the crash seriously hurt seven members of the stunt and camera-crew team, while Kidman suffered several broken ribs and went to the hospital, coming back the following day to complete the shoot[2](https://www.joblo.com/the-invasion-2007/).
Critics and later commentators have linked the reworking to the film's fractured feel. Roger Ebert, longtime film critic of the *Chicago Sun-Times*, wrote that the movie "churns through" a story born to be creepy "like a road company production" and criticized its turn toward car-chase action[1](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-invasion-2007). A Guardian column described the film as destroyed by meddling, with producer [Joel Silver](https://www.edgepedia.org/joel-silver) judging Hirschbiegel's version too cerebral[11](https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2007/oct/12/womeninhollywood).
## Reception and box office
The film opened on August 17, 2007 in 2,776 theaters, earning $5,951,409 for fifth place on the weekend. Grosses fell 48 percent in the second weekend, and the domestic total settled at $15,074,191 against a $80,000,000 production budget; international receipts of $25,096,367 brought the worldwide total to $40,170,558, about half the budget[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Invasion-The) • [5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0427392/). Warner Home Video released it on DVD on January 29, 2008[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Invasion-The).
Critical response was largely negative. The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus calls the film "slickly made" but lacking "psychological insight and thrills," with a 20 percent score from 163 reviews[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/invasion). Metacritic recorded a Metascore of 45, based on 31 critic reviews classified as 7 positive, 18 mixed, and 6 negative[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-invasion/). Some reviewers found merit in the premise: the *Los Angeles Times* called it "still effectively creepy and surprisingly unnerving" despite the troubled production, while James Berardinelli of ReelViews blamed the mismatched blend of Hirschbiegel's low-key horror and the Wachowskis' action sequences[12](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-invasion/critic-reviews/). Ebert judged it "the fourth, and the least," of the *Body Snatchers* films[1](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-invasion-2007).
## Place in the Body Snatchers lineage
The film is the last of four adaptations of Finney's novel to date, following [Don Siegel](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-siegel)'s 1956 original, [Philip Kaufman](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-kaufman)'s 1978 remake, and [Abel Ferrara](https://www.edgepedia.org/abel-ferrara)'s 1993 *Body Snatchers*[13](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/invasion-body-snatchers-remake-works-warner-bros-225118867.html). It carries a nod to its predecessor: Veronica Cartwright, a lead in the 1978 film, appears as Wendy Lenk[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/invasion). Retrospective commentary on the film has been partly revisionist; recent reviews collected on Rotten Tomatoes describe it as an oddly timely film more than a decade and a half after release, though the aggregate score still places it well below the earlier versions[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/invasion).
## References
1. [Roger Ebert, "The Invasion" review, August 16, 2007](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-invasion-2007)
2. [The Invasion (2007): What Happened to This Sci-Fi Horror Movie?, JoBlo](https://www.joblo.com/the-invasion-2007/)
3. [The Invasion (2007), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Invasion-The)
4. [The Invasion, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/invasion)
5. [The Invasion (2007), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0427392/)
6. [The Invasion Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-invasion/)
7. [Remake Replicates Decent Thrills, Box Office Mojo, August 23, 2007](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/article/ed2709062660/)
8. [The Invasion, Christianity Today, August 17, 2007](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2007/08/invasion/)
9. [The Invasion, Film Threat, August 20, 2007](https://filmthreat.com/reviews/the-invasion/)
10. [The Wachowski Brothers Rework The Invasion, /Film](https://www.slashfilm.com/495903/the-wachowski-brothers-rework-the-invasion/)
11. [Women's raw deal in Hollywood, The Guardian, October 12, 2007](https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2007/oct/12/womeninhollywood)
12. [The Invasion critic reviews - Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-invasion/critic-reviews/)
13. ['Invasion of the Body Snatchers' Remake in the Works at Warner Bros.](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/invasion-body-snatchers-remake-works-warner-bros-225118867.html)
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