Aeon Flux is often forgotten when discussing Charlize Theron’s action roles. Before Mad Max: Fury Road turned her into a legitimate genre icon, a status re-affirmed by Atomic Blonde and The Old Guard (which is soon getting a sequel), her first attempt at headlining an action flick, 2005’s Aeon Flux, had been largely forgotten. At the time, Theron was mostly known for prestige drama. She had won an Oscar in 2004 for his role as Aileen Wuornos in Patty Jenkins’ Monster. She chose to follow this up by trying her luck at leading an action franchise, as female-driven action films were having a moment thanks to the success of the Underworld franchise. Directed by Karyn Kusama and based on the cult MTV Animated series, Aeon Flux seemed to have everything going for it.
Still, the film was a notorious bomb that temporarily derailed Kusama’s career (she would return with the cult films Jennifer’s Body & The Invitation), while Theron would avoid action movies until being lured back by George Miller. So what happened? We explain how studio battles, dulling cuts of the film and a fetishized heroine derailed what could have been a big franchise for all involved in this episode of WTF Happened to this Movie, written by Gaius Bolling, edited by Paul Podeyn, and narrated by Mathew Plale.