The Butterfly Effect

J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress collaborated on The Butterfly Effect, a 2004 American science fiction thriller written and directed by Bress. They include Amy Smart, Eric Stoltz, William Lee Scott, Elden Henson, Logan Lerman, and Melora Walters.

Evan Treborn is a 20-year-old college student played by Ashton Kutcher who has been plagued by memory loss and blackouts since he was a baby. Over a few decades, Evan, now in his mid-20s, discovers he can travel back in time and inhabit the body and mind of his younger self whenever he experiences a mental blackout. By altering his conduct in the past, he hopes to modify the present and make things right for himself and his friends, but this has unexpected effects. As Evan tries to rewrite the past, the film uses flashbacks of the individuals' childhoods to present numerous possible futures before landing on a final ending.

Despite the negative reviews, the picture was a financial success, grossing $96 million at the box office on a $13 million budget. For Best Science Fiction Film at the Saturn Awards and Choice Movie: Thriller at the Teen Choice Awards, the film was nominated but lost to New Line Cinema's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, respectively.