Claim: War of the Worlds is a movie involving disasters.

War of the Worlds is a 2005 American science fiction disaster film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp , loosely based on the novel of the same title by H. G. Wells . It stars Tom Cruise , Dakota Fanning , Justin Chatwin , Miranda Otto and Tim Robbins , with narration by Morgan Freeman . In the film , an American dock worker is forced to look after his children , from whom he lives separately , as he struggles to protect them and reunite them with their mother when extraterrestrials invade the Earth and devastate cities with towering war machines .   The film was shot in 73 days , using five different sound stages as well as locations in California , Connecticut , New Jersey , New York , and Virginia . The film was surrounded by a secrecy campaign so few details would be leaked before its release . Tie-in promotions were made with several companies , including Hitachi . The film was released in the United States on June 29 and in United Kingdom on July 1 . War of the Worlds was a box office success , and became 2005 's fourth most successful film both domestically , with $ 234 million in North America , and $ 591 million overall . At the time of release , it was the highest-grossing film starring Tom Cruise .