"The Lost City" is a 2022 American action-adventure comedy film directed by Aaron and Adam Nee. They helped write the screenplay with Oren Uziel and Dana Fox, based on a story by Seth Gordon. The movie features actors like Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Brad Pitt. It tells the story of 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 movie was announced in October 2020, with Sandra Bullock joining as a producer and star. Channing Tatum joined the project in December 2020, and the rest of the cast was announced the following year. Filming took place in the Dominican Republic from May to August 2021. The film premiered at the South by Southwest festival on March 12, 2022, and was released in theaters by Paramount Pictures in the United States on March 25, 2022. It received mostly good reviews from critics and made over $190 million worldwide, with a budget of $68 million.
Plot
Loretta Sage, a former archaeology researcher, writes romance-adventure novels featuring the fictional character Dr. Angela Lovemore and her romantic interest, Dash McMahon. To promote her latest book, her publisher, Beth Hatten, arranges a book tour with Alan Caprison, the cover model for Dash. Loretta has avoided public appearances since her husband passed away five years ago.
The book tour begins poorly because fans are more interested in Alan’s portrayal of Dash than Loretta’s work. Loretta is then brought before billionaire Abigail Fairfax, who claims to have discovered a lost city on a remote volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean. Fairfax believes the Crown of Fire, a valuable treasure once owned by King Kalaman and Queen Taha, is hidden there. Since Loretta’s novels were inspired by her research, Fairfax asks her to help solve an ancient clue to find the treasure. When she refuses, Fairfax gives her a drug to make her sleep and takes her to the island.
Alan, who secretly admires Loretta, sees her kidnapping. He contacts Jack Trainer, a former Navy SEAL who now works for the CIA. Using the location from Loretta’s smartwatch, Jack and Alan begin a rescue mission.
Jack enters Fairfax’s compound and frees Loretta. However, as they try to escape, Jack is shot in the head by Fairfax’s workers. Loretta and Alan flee into the jungle.
They spend the day hiding from Fairfax’s workers and spend the night in a hammock in the jungle before reaching a nearby village. After hearing a local sing a folk song, Loretta realizes the Crown of Fire is hidden in a cenote, a deep water-filled cave in the jungle. Fairfax’s group captures Loretta, and Alan is later caught when he follows them on a motorcycle. Fairfax forces them to reveal the treasure’s location.
They travel by boat to the tomb site, but instead of finding a grand monument filled with treasure, they discover a quiet place where Queen Taha grieved for her husband. The Crown of Fire was made of red seashells collected by the king to show his love for the queen. The real treasure was the love between the king and queen.
Angry, Fairfax traps Loretta and Alan inside the tomb as the volcano erupts. One of Fairfax’s workers, Rafi, changes his mind and leaves a crowbar inside the tomb so they can escape. Rafi then leaves Fairfax on the island and takes the boat to safety. 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. Later, Loretta’s next book, based on her adventure with Alan, becomes a success. At the end of the book tour, Loretta and Alan share a kiss on the beach.
In a mid-credits scene, Loretta and Alan attend a meditation class where they meet Jack, who survived being shot in the head.
Production
In October 2020, it was announced that Sandra Bullock would star in the film The Lost City of D. Aaron and Adam Nee directed the film, which was based on a screenplay written by Seth Gordon and Dana Fox. Bullock worked as a producer through her company, Fortis Films, and Paramount Pictures handled the distribution. Bullock first declined the project because she believed the story was "outdated" after being in development for seven years. In December 2020, Channing Tatum was cast as the male lead. Between March and April 2021, Patti Harrison, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Daniel Radcliffe, Brad Pitt, and Oscar Nunez joined the cast. Brad Pitt and Yang appeared in short roles. Aaron and Adam Nee originally thought about casting Keanu Reeves for the role of Jack Trainer, but he was unavailable.
Main filming began in May 2021 in the Dominican Republic, including locations such as Samaná, Santo Domingo, Casa de Campo, Altos de Chavon, Monte Plata Province, and Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios. Filming ended on August 16, 2021.
Release
The Lost City premiered at the 2022 South by Southwest Film Festival on March 12. In October 2021, it was announced that the film’s title was changed from The Lost City of D to The Lost City. It was released in theaters on March 25, 2022, after being scheduled for April 15, 2022. On March 1, 2022, the film’s release in Russia was canceled because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The movie became available to stream on Paramount+ on May 10, 2022. It was also released on EPIX on the same day as part of a special agreement between Paramount and EPIX. According to data from Samba TV, 1.5 million U.S. households watched The Lost City during its first six days of streaming. The film was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on July 26 by Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment.
Reception
The Lost City earned $105.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $87.6 million in other countries, totaling $192.9 million worldwide.
In the United States and Canada, the film was released with two other movies, Infinite Storm and RRR. It was expected to earn $20–34 million from 4,228 theaters during its first weekend. The film earned $11.5 million on its first day, including $2.5 million from previews held on Thursday. It opened with $30.5 million, becoming the top movie at the box office and replacing The Batman. This was the second-highest opening for Paramount during the COVID-19 pandemic, after A Quiet Place Part II. It also had the highest opening weekend for an original film since the pandemic began. In its second weekend, the film earned $14.7 million, a drop of 52%, and ranked second behind Morbius. It earned $9 million in its third weekend, finishing third. By its tenth weekend, the film earned $2.3 million, reaching $100 million in total earnings in the United States and Canada.
Outside the United States and Canada, the film earned $3.7 million in its first weekend from sixteen international markets.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 78% approval rating based on 272 reviews, with an average score of 6.4 out of 10. The website’s summary states, “The Lost City does not shine as brightly as some classic adventure films, but the chemistry between its stars makes it enjoyable.” On Metacritic, it has a score of 60 out of 100 based on 53 critics, meaning reviews are mixed or average. Audiences gave the film a “B+” rating on CinemaScore, and 81% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would recommend it.
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote, “It is a shame The Lost City is not more ambitious, as a woman writing her dreams into reality could have been a strong story. While other films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Romancing the Stone are more creative, The Lost City feels like a copy of a copy.” Siddhant Adlakha of IGN gave the film a 6 out of 10, calling it “a decent action-comedy that relies on its stars.”
Peter Debruge of Variety said, “The film has some weak parts, but the Nee brothers, who also wrote the screenplay, added jokes and moments that make it feel more like older adventure-comedy films.” David Fear of Rolling Stone wrote, “The movie tries to bring back a style of film: a big-budget action-adventure comedy. It wants to be like Romancing the Stone, but it feels like it is struggling to succeed.”