“I, Robot,” the 2004 sci-fi thriller starring Will Smith, is in Apple TV’s top 10 movies in the U.S., 22 years after it came out.
The film is No. 10 on FlixPatrol’s Oct. 17 Apple TV rankings, after placing No. 9 a day earlier. FlixPatrol has it at 63 days in the top 10. It shares the chart with “Fury,” “Good Will Hunting,” and “F1,” and with new arrivals “Tenzing” and “Matchbox.”
The Story
Directed by Alex Proyas, “I, Robot” is set in Chicago in 2035, when robots work in homes and public services under three safety rules. Smith plays Del Spooner, a Chicago police detective. He’s called in when Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), the co-founder of U.S. Robotics, is found dead in what looks like a suicide, and he starts to suspect a robot named Sonny.
Bridget Moynahan plays robot psychologist Dr. Susan Calvin, and Bruce Greenwood plays Lawrence Robertson, the company’s CEO. Alan Tudyk voices Sonny and played him through motion capture. Shia LaBeouf and Chi McBride are also in the cast.
The movie takes its title from Isaac Asimov’s 1950 short-story collection, but it isn’t a direct adaptation. It started as “Hardwired,” an original murder-mystery script Jeff Vintar wrote in 1995, according to Wikipedia. Akiva Goldsman was later brought in to write for Smith.
Smith Wasn’t the First Choice
Arnold Schwarzenegger was attached to the project for several years. When his schedule kept delaying it, Smith went after the role. Denzel Washington was also offered the part and turned it down. Smith ended up starring and serving as an executive producer.
A No. 1 Opening
20th Century Fox released “I, Robot” on July 16, 2004. It opened at No. 1 with $52.2 million and went on to make $144.8 million in the U.S. and Canada and $353.1 million worldwide. It was nominated for the Oscar for best visual effects and lost to “Spider-Man 2.”
Critics were split. The film has a 57% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 222 reviews, while audiences there give it 70%. Opening-weekend moviegoers gave it an A- CinemaScore.
The Director vs. Elon Musk
In October 2024, after Tesla showed its Cybertruck and Robovan, Proyas accused Elon Musk of copying the film’s designs. He posted images of his movie’s robots and vehicles next to Tesla’s on X and wrote, “Hey Elon, can I have my designs back, please?” The A.V. Club reported.
There was talk of a sequel. In 2007, writer-producer Ronald Moore told Collider he was writing one, but Proyas later said a sequel was highly unlikely.
“I, Robot” is available on Apple TV.
