Based on David Mitchell's award-winning novel with the same name, Cloud Atlas is a sci-fi film distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures and is directed by The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer. The film was released at the Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2012, where it earned a standing ovation that lasted for an entire 10 minutes.
"The Wachowskis" is the collective name for sisters Lana and Lilly Wachowski, who are American film producers and directors. In 1996, they received their debut as directors with the film Bound, but it was in 1999 that they amassed international recognition and fame for their film The Matrix. The huge success of The Matrix led The Wachowskis to be awarded with as the Best Director at the Saturn Awards.
Despite the large amounts of praise and applause given at the Toronto International Film Festival, when the film hit the box office in October 2012 it was received huge amounts of criticism and as a result, largely failed. This resulted in the film's budget exceeding the money made in the box office, which is shocking given the enormous filming budget of $147 million. However, the soundtrack that accompanies the film received widespread appreciation and acclaim, with roughly two hours of purely original music being written solely for the film.