It's so hard to find decent sci-fi. Does it boil down to budget constraints?

I'm a huge fan of Lee Pace so I thought I'd give this one a shot despite the low ratings here and elsewhere, but as user @gilknut wrote in another thread, Lee Pace is too good for this.

It's so disappointing. The effects are good for a low budget, but the script is pretty much disastrous. A really good low budget film can convince you it didn't need anymore money, but here the basic direction and cinematography (flashbacks and bog standard camera placement) leaves a dystopian vision that's thin and underwhelming. I hope we see an uptick in decent sci-fi over the next few years. Are big franchises really choking off the money to other interesting prospects?