War of the Worlds is a 2005 live action science fiction film adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp. It stars Tom Cruise as Ray Ferrier, a dock worker estranged from his wife and children and living separately from them. As his wife gives their children to him to take care of for a few days, the Earth is invaded by aliens in Tripod form. Ray protects his children and tries to go to Boston to rejoin his wife.

War of the Worlds marks Spielberg and Cruise's second collaboration, after Minority Report. Cruise admired Spielberg and planned to collaborate with Spielberg again. Cruise visited Spielberg during the filming of Catch Me If You Can. After discussions, Cruise and Spielberg chose to develop The War of the Worlds into a film adaptation. Filming locations were at Connecticut, New York, California, Virginia and New Jersey. Several scenes were filmed at studios of 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios.

Tie-in promotions were made with several companies, including with Hitachi. The film released in United States on 29 June and in United Kingdom on 1 July. The film generally received positive reviews, the film received 73% "fresh" rating on the film review site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 240 reviews. The film was a box office success, as it grossed $234 million inside United States and US$357 million at foreign countries, bringing the total gross to $591 million. The MPAA rated this movie PG-13 for Frightening Sequences of Sci-fi Violence and Disturbing Images.