Ĉon
Flux is a loose adaptation of the animated science fiction television series Ĉon Flux, which was created by animator Peter
Chung (who had a minor role in this film version of his work). The film stars Charlize Theron as the title character.
The
film is set 400 years in the future, when a virus has wiped out 99 percent of the Earth's population with the survivors inhabiting
a walled, protected city-state named Bregna which is ruled by a congress of scientists. The story centers on Ĉon Flux, the
top operative in the underground 'Monican' rebellion led by The Handler. When Ĉon is sent on a mission to kill a government
leader, Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas), she uncovers a secret coup and answers about the past and future of Bregna's inhabitants
which leads her to doubt her mission.
The
film incorporates numerous elements from episodes of the TV series, most notably the episode "A Last Time For Everything",
as well as from Ĉon Flux: the Herodotus File, a graphic novel that was based upon the series.
The
screenplay was written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (writers of teen drama-romance Crazy/Beautiful and action-comedy The
Tuxedo), and directed by Karyn Kusama (Girlfight). The character of Ĉon Flux was played by Oscar-winner Charlize Theron.
In
the early stages of production, actress Michelle Rodriguez was considered for the part of Aeon. This was perhaps due to her
previous partnership with director Kusama in Girlfight.
Paramount
Pictures chose not to allow critics to review this film until 2 hours before it opened. This move, which made it impossible
for critics to include reviews in the next day's paper, made some critics expect a bad film. While most reviews were negative,
some critics were surprised to change their prior assumptions.
The
film took in only $13.1 million (US) in its opening weekend.
Reception
to aspects of the film appears to vary depending on how well (if at all) the critic is familiar with the TV series. A number
of critics, for example, cast scorn on the character of Sithandra who is shown to be a woman who has replaced her feet with
a second set of hands, even though this character actually appeared in the original TV series.
A
number of people have also criticized the marketing of this film, questioning the wisdom of releasing a cerebral science fiction
action film during the holiday season (where light family-fare is the norm) with a minimum of promotion and sandwiched between
two sure-fire box office dominators (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch,
and the Wardrobe).
Though
in many early and post-release interviews, Peter Chung was cautiously optimistic or evasive in his opinion of the film, in
the following month he publically criticized the movie in an interview. Phil Hays, one of the scriptwriters for the film,
gave a response on the same website.
Charlize Theron - Aeon Flux
Marton Csokas - Chairman Trevor Goodchild
Jonny Lee Miller - Oren Goodchild
Sophie Okonedo - Sithandra
Amelia Warner - Una Flux
Caroline Chikezie - Freya
Frances McDormand - The Handler
Yangzom Brauen - Inari
Betty Okino - The Monican
Narges Rashidi - Young Woman
Claas Wuerfel - Husband
During
the shooting, Theron suffered a serious neck injury while performing a back handspring. She was hospitalized in Berlin for five days and it took about six
weeks of physiotherapy to recover. As a result the production was delayed for a month.
Theron now has a "no stunts" clause in her contracts.
In
late 2005, Dark Horse Comics published a four-issue comic book miniseries tying in with the movie. The storyline serves as
a prequel to the film and is a mixture of Peter Chung's original TV series designs and characters combined with the setting
and story elements of the movie. (There are some alterations: the comic book version of Ĉon only loosely resembles Theron,
while her colleague Sithandra, played by a black actress in the film, is depicted as a caucasian in the comic book). The first
issue sets up Aeon Flux's mission for the miniseries: sabotage the Bregnan government's plan to destroy the forest outside
of Bregna's walls. The last two issues of the miniseries were published after the film had been released, and by the time
the final issue came out, the film had already ended its run in most areas. Dark Horse has not announced if any further Ĉon
Flux-based comics will be published.
On
November 15, 2005 a video game adaptation of the same name was released in North America.