# In the Lost Lands

In the Lost Lands is a 2025 epic dark fantasy film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, with a screenplay by Constantin Werner from a story they both co-wrote. Based on the short story of the same name by George R. R. Martin, the film stars Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista as a witch and a hunter, respectively, who journey into a dangerous landscape to find an artifact for a queen.
In the Lost Lands was first released in Australia on 27 February 2025, and was released in the United States on March 7, 2025, by Vertical in North American territories, and by Constantin Film Verleih in Germany.

## Premise

   A queen, desperate to find happiness in love, takes a daring step: she sends the powerful and feared witch Gray Alys to the "Lost Lands" to give her the magical gift of turning into a werewolf. With the mysterious hunter Boyce, who supports her in the fight against dark creatures and merciless enemies, Gray Alys roams an eerie and dangerous world. And only she knows that every wish she grants has unimaginable consequences.

## Cast

* Dave Bautista as Boyce
* Milla Jovovich as Gray Alys
* Arly Jover as Ash
* Amara Okereke as Melange
* Fraser James as Patriarch Johan
* Simon Lööf as Jerais
* Deirdre Mullins as Mara
* Sebastian Stankiewicz as Ross
* Jacek Dzisiewicz as Overlord
* Tue Lunding as The Hammer
* Ian Hanmore as The Stranger
* Eveline Hall as Old homeless woman
* Kamila Klamut as Midwife
* Caoilinn Springall as Young girl
* Pawel Wysocki as The Gambler
* Jan Kowalewski as Young Monk
* Nicolas Stone as Kane
* Tomasz Cymerman as Outrider 1

## Production
### Development

In February 2015, it was announced that Constantin Werner had purchased the rights to three George R. R. Martin short stories: "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr", "In the Lost Lands", and "Bitterblooms". Werner planned to adapt all three stories into a single film with Milla Jovovich playing Gray Alys, and Justin Chatwin playing Boyce. This version of the film never eventuated and the project entered limbo.
In 2021, the film re-emerged with Paul W. S. Anderson as director, Jovovich's husband who collaborated on the Resident Evil film series, The Three Musketeers (2011), and Monster Hunter (2020). Dave Bautista replaced Chatwin as Boyce, while Werner served as co-writer and producer. According to Werner, the film was planned to begin filming in late 2021 or early 2022, but was delayed to late 2022. In an August 2022 interview prior to filming, Anderson described the film as a "Western", saying:
   At its heart, it's very much a western as it has all the iconography that one would associate with a western. It's set in a post-apocalyptic land, so on the surface it's not a western, but at its heart it is most definitely a western. It deals with a lot of western tropes and storytelling and imagery, so I am very excited to be doing that.

### Filming

Principal photography began 14 November 2022 at Alvernia Studios in Poland. Photography wrapped in February 2023, after 46 days.

### Visual effects

The visual effects were provided by Herne Hill Media, which had previously worked on Anderson's Resident Evil films and Monster Hunter.

### Post-production

In February 2023, R. R. Martin indicated on Twitter that filming had concluded in Poland and was undergoing extensive post-production.

## Release

In September 2024, Vertical acquired the U.S. distribution rights to the film. In November 2024, Martin revealed the film's American release date as February 28, 2025. In January 8, 2025, the film was delayed to March 7 the same year.
The German release date for In the Lost Lands was initially set for September 26, 2024, before being replaced on Constantin Film's slate by Megalopolis.

## Reception
### Box office

In the Lost Lands grossed $1.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $1.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $2.9 million.
In its opening weekend, the film made $1.1 million from 1,370 theaters.

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 24% of 46 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Squandering George R.R. Martin's source material on an incomprehensible eyesore, Paul W.S. Anderson's In the Lost Lands could use its own map out of the wilderness." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 41 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.