The 5th Wave is a 2016 American science fiction action film directed by J Blakeson from a screenplay by Susannah Grant, Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner, based on Rick Yancey's 2013 novel of the same name.

The film stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Ron Livingston, Maggie Siff, Alex Roe, Maria Bello, Maika Monroe, and Liev Schreiber.

When he pulls his other hand out from under his jacket, she mistakes the metallic glint of a Christian cross for that of a gun, so she kills him: the screen then cuts to black, and her backstory begins.

Ten days later, The Others unleash their 'First Wave,' an electromagnetic pulse that disables all electrical power and communications worldwide and shuts off the engines of moving vehicles, including planes in mid-flight.

In March 2012, Columbia Pictures picked up the film rights to the trilogy, with Graham King and Tobey Maguire attached as producers.

[6][7] On April 15, 2014, it was officially announced that Chloë Grace Moretz would star as Cassie Sullivan, and that J Blakeson would direct from a script by Susannah Grant.

[8][9] From June through August 2014, Nick Robinson and Alex Roe joined the film as male protagonists Ben Parish and Evan Walker, respectively, while Liev Schreiber was cast as the villain.

[10][11] Over the following months, Maika Monroe, Zackary Arthur, Tony Revolori, Ron Livingston, Maggie Siff, and Talitha Bateman joined the film.

[17] Three months after production began, on January 11, a planned explosion of a bus in downtown Macon, Georgia, for the film went awry when it spread wider than planned, blowing out more than forty windows on Cotton Avenue, collapsing ceilings, destroying store fronts, setting one building on fire, and leaving soot on the brick buildings as well.

[24] Notable songs by popular artists featured in the film include Sia, Coldplay, Pitbull, Ne-Yo, Madeon, Passion Pit, and Mark Ronson.

Lead actress Chloë Grace Moretz was featured on the cover of February 2016 issue of teenage lifestyle magazine Marie Claire to promote the film.

[41] The film's actors were also featured in several interviews with various YouTube channels such as IGN[42] and FilmisNow[43] On May 3, 2016, it was announced via social media that the 5th Wave was available for purchase on Blu-Ray and Digital formats that same day.

[4] The film was released in North America on January 22, 2016, alongside Dirty Grandpa and The Boy, and was projected to gross $10–14 million from 2,908 theaters in its opening weekend.

The site's critics consensus reads, "With unimpressive effects and plot points seemingly pieced together from previous dystopian young adult sci-fi films, The 5th Wave ends up feeling like more of a limp, derivative wriggle.

"[49] Rob Vaux of the Sci-Fi Movie Page gave the film one star out of five, saying, "The Young Adult adaptation craze hits a low point with this aimless, purposeless alien invasion story that wastes a fine cast.

In the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle wrote, "rarely does a movie that fails so utterly start so well", falling apart ahead of the fifth wave.

[51] Eddie Cockrell of Variety gave the film a mixed review, saying, "The 5th Wave is an effectively decent post-apocalyptic, young adult, world-in-the-balance survival thriller" with an "arrestingly original spin on trendy genre tropes", although he suggested that fans of the book may have "issues with what has been edited".

[52] Brian Truitt of USA Today gave the film a positive review, stating that it "is an inviting sci-fi invasion" and "nicely stokes the imagination of a new generation of science-fiction movie nerds".

[53] Shannon Harvey of The West Australian also gave the film a positive review, writing, "It's actually got a lot going for it, from acting prodigy Chloe Grace Moretz as the kind of tough but fragile heroine you can cheer for to handsome production values, several plot twists".