After working for the Jim Henson Creature Shop, dabbling in video game production, and directing advertisements, Duncan Jones came out swinging with 2009's Moon and followed it up with 2011's Source Code. Both of these sci-fi tales were extremely well-received and announced Jones as a director on the rise in Hollywood. Unfortunately, he then moved on to Warcraft and eventually Mute, both being critical failures. Though Mute was released on Netflix, meaning budgetary concerns were never really considered, 2016's Warcraft was a box office bomb that killed a film franchise just as it was beginning. In the blink of an eye, Jones went from genuine wunderkind to forgotten also-ran.

Now, the director has a new movie in the works based on a cult comic series. The first looks make it seem like another ambitious project, but can he win over audiences and critics, or will this continue his unfortunate losing streak?

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Duncan Jones Made A Name For Himself With Moon And Source Code

Two Of The Best Sci-Fi Films Of The New Millennium

Duncan Jones hit the ground running with 2009's Moon. Filmed on a $5 million budget from a script he co-wrote with Nathan Parker, Jones created a mini-masterpiece with beloved character actor Sam Rockwell in the starring role. Moon tells the story of a man struggling with a mental crisis after spending three years alone mining on the far side of the moon. Beloved both by critics and the scientific community at large, Moon may not have become a major box office smash, but it earned numerous awards upon release and set Jones up as a director to watch. Jones's next film would solidify that reality.

If Moon was the opening salvo, Source Code proved that Jones has what it takes to helm a thoughtful sci-fi thrill ride with a sizable budget. Source Code stars Jake Gyllenhaal as an Army officer who is forced to relive the last eight minutes of another man's life via a simulated recreation of a terrorist attack on a train over and over until he figures out who is responsible for the disaster. The twists and turns of Source Code rival Moon and demonstrated again that Jones has the right stuff to succeed in Hollywood. Like Moon before it, Source Code was a critical darling and earned more than $147 million against a $32 million budget. Its success let Jones to the biggest film of his career, and that's where things went off the rails.

Warcraft And Mute Ruined Duncan Jones's Reputation Seemingly Overnight

It Almost Seems A Bit Unfair, Really

Look, there was almost no way a Warcraft movie was going to work. Adapting video games into a movie isn't the easiest thing in the world, and the fandom surrounding the Warcraft franchise and its lore meant pleasing the diehard fans was, essentially, an insurmountable task. The fact that it took Blizzard ten years from announcing a Warcraft film to getting it into theaters in 2016 is a testament to how difficult bringing the project from game to big screen really was. Jones's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer just after he joined the project, and his father, the great David Bowie, died from cancer while Jones was still working on the film. Just take all of this into account when you learn that Warcraft was a critical disaster that ended up losing money at the box office despite bringing in nearly $440 million.

2018's Mute is another story, however. This Netflix noir film is technically a follow-up to Moon, and it was absolutely eviscerated by critics upon release. If Warcraft was a film muddled by too many cooks in the kitchen, Jones has no one to blame but himself for Mute's quality. It is a much smaller film that he directed from a screenplay he co-wrote based on a story concept he came up with. He got stars like Alexander Skarsgård and Paul Rudd to star in it and even got Sam Rockwell to reprise his role from Moon. Unfortunately, Mute is a mess that isn't fun to watch despite its incredible visual style.

Rogue Trooper Could Be The Return Of Duncan Jones As A Sci-Fi Force To Be Reckoned With

Hey, We Can Dream, Right?

Duncan Jones has been working on an adaptation of the 2000 AD comic book strip Rogue Trooper since 2018, and it's looking like the project is finally coming to fruition. Co-created by Dave Gibbons of Watchmen fame, Rogue Trooper tells the ongoing story of a genetically engineered supersoldier named Rogue who runs around "Nu-Earth" with a gun, backpack, and helmet that have all had the personalities of his deceased squadmates uploaded into them. Yeah, it's pretty nuts, and it sounds like it'll be a great time at the movies.

But as nuts as the story itself is, the decision to animate the film using Epic Games's Unreal Engine 5 is an even wilder one. Initially released in 2022, Unreal Engine 5 released the 5.6 update earlier this month and is undoubtedly one of the most powerful video game engines on the planet. Whether that translates to a feature film successfully is yet to be seen, but Jones is clearly going for a purposefully weird look with Rogue Trooper.

Here's to hoping Duncan Jones gets his groove back with Rogue Trooper, because it's hard for a filmmaker to get out of director jail if they helm three mediocre-to-bad movies in a row.

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