Researching American/UK blockbusters and American/UK independent films
Film 1 American blockbuster: Alice in Wonderland [2010]
- Plot: 19 year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny...to end the Red Queen's reign of terror.
- Budget: The film had a budget of $150-$200 million.
- Stars: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Mia Wasikowska, Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman.
- Genre: Adventure, family and fantasy.
- Box office: Alice in Wonderland earned $334,191,110 in North America as of July 8th 2010, and $691,276,000 in other territories as of July 10th 2011, for a worldwide total of $1,025,467,110. Worldwide it is the third highest-grossing film starring Johnny Depp and the highest-grossing film directed by Tim Burton, in addition to being the second highest-grossing children's book adaption worldwide. On its first weekend the film made $220.1 million worldwide. Wonderland dominated for three consecutive weekends at the worldwide box office. On May 26th 2010, on its 85th day of release, it became the sixth film ever to surpass the $1 billion-mark, and the second film produced and released by Walt Disney Studios that did so.
- Production: The film was distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, and filmed at Walt Disney Pictures, Roth Films, The Zanuck Company and Team Todd.
- Certificate: Rated PG for fantasy action/violence, involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking Caterpillar.
- Marketing: On June 22nd 2009, the first pictures from the film were released, showing Depp as the Mad Hatter, Hathaway as the White Queen, Bonham Carter as the Red Queen and Matt Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. A new image of Alice was also released. On July 22nd 2009, a teaser trailer from the Mad Hatter's point of view was released on IGN, but was shortly taken down because Disney claimed that the trailer was not supposed to be out yet. At ComicCon, props from the film were displayed in an Alice in Wonderland exhibit. The costumes featured included the Red Queen's dress, chair, wig, spectacles and scepter; the White Queen's dress, wig and a small model of her castle; the Mad Hatter's suit, hat, wig, chair and table; Alice's dress and battle armor. Other famous props were also included to promote the film amongst fans of the genre.
- Release date: On February 12th 2010, major UK cinema chains Odeon, Vue and Cineworld had planned to boycott the film because of a reduction of the interval between cinema and DVD release from the usual 17 weeks to 12. A week after the announcement, Cineworld, who has a 24% share of UK box office, chose to play the film on more than 150 screens. Cineworld's chief executive Steve Wiener stated, "As leaders in 3D, we did not want the public to miss out on such a visual spectacle". Shortly after, the Vue cinema chain also reached an agreement with Disney, but Odeon had still chosen to boycott in Britain, Ireland and Italy. On February 25th 2010, Odeon had reached an agreement and decided to show the film on March 5th 2010. The film was released in the US and UK, in both Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D, as well as regular theaters on March 5th 2010.
- Reception: Outside of North America, Wonderland is the twelfth highest-grossing film, the highest-grossing 2010 film, the fourth highest-grossing Disney film, the second highest-grossing film starring Johnny Depp and the highest-grossing film directed by Tim Burton. The film received generally mixed reviews. Critic website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 51% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 263 reviews, with an average score of 5.7/10. Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 1-100 reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 53, based on 38 reviews.
Film 2 British blockbuster: Skyfall [2012]
- Plot: Bond's loyalty to M is tested when her past comes back to haunt her. Whilst MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
- Budget: The budget for the film was an estimated $150-200 million.
- Stars: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes and Judi Dench.
- Genre: Action, adventure and thriller.
- Box office: Skyfall has earned a total of $1.1 billion at the box office worldwide, is the highest grossing film for Sony Pictures worldwide, and the 2nd highest grossing film of 2012. On its opening weekend, it earned $80.6 million from 25 markets. Meanwhile in the UK, the film grossed £20.1 million on its opening weekend. After 40 days of release the total UK gross stood at £94.2 million. By December 30th 2012, it became the first film to gross more than £100 million ($161.6) in the UK.
- Production: Production of Skyfall was suspended throughout 2010 because of MGM's financial troubles. They resumed pre-production following MGM's exit from bankruptcy on 21st December 2010 and in January 2011, the film was officially given a release date of 9th November 2012 by MGM and the Broccoli family, with production scheduled to start in late 2011. Subsequently MGM and Sony Pictures announced that the UK release date would be brought forward to 26th October 2012, two weeks ahead of the US release date, which remained scheduled for 9th November 2012.
- Certificate: The film was rated PG-13 for intense violent sequences throughout, some sexuality, language and smoking.
- Marketing: Skyfall raises the bar for onscreen product placement, from 007's Tom Ford-tailored suits to Q's Sony Vaio hardware, as well as offscreen alliances ranging from Coke Zero to perfume retailers. Upmarket car brand, Aston Martin, contributed to the marketing, underlining UK heritage. A joint campaign with VisitBritain, resulted in a film to hawk British tourism to international audiences through viral and print advertising, in addition to its first ever cinema ad, all united under the slogan "Bond is Great ... Britain". The Skyfall marketing posters chiefly highlighted the 007 brand, and did not name its star cast or A-list director, Sam Mendes. Skyfall's marketing has primarily been aimed at reassuring the traditional audience that they haven't been forgotten.
- Release Date: The premiere of Skyfall was on 23rd October 2012 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The film was released in the UK three days later on 26th October and into US cinemas on 8th November. Production of Skyfall was suspended throughout 2010 and finally released in 2012.
- Reception: The film received generally positive reviews from critics. On critic website Rotten Tomatoes, 295 reviewers judged the film at 92%, with the majority of reviews being positive. The film also scored 81/100 on Metacritic, based on 43 reviews. The Daily Telegraph's film reviewer, Robbie Collin, considered Skyfall to be "often dazzling, always audacious". The film won several accolades, including the BAFTA Awards for Outstanding British Film and Best Film Music; the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture; and was nominated for five Academy Awards, of which it won two. Adele's theme song won Best Original Song, in addition to the song also winning Best Original Song at the Golden Globe Awards.
Film 3 US independent: (500) Days of Summer [2009]
- Plot: An offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man who falls for her.
- Budget: The film cost $7.5 million to produce, earning $60.7 million worldwide in the box office.
- Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel and Chloë Grace Moretz.
- Genre: Comedy, romance and drama.
- Box office: By September 8th, the film had taken $1.9 million from 318 screens in the United Kingdom, after its September 2nd release in UK and Ireland. The film was regarded as a successful 5-day opening by Fox Searchlight, earning around half as much as the science-fiction blockbuster District 9, which took $3.5 million. As of February 25th 2010 the film had grossed $32,391,374 in the US and Canada, with a total of $60,722,734 worldwide. The DVD and Blu-ray Disc release sold 759, 081 copies as of October 2010, earning $11,382,604 in consumer revenue.
- Production: The film was distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures and premiered at the 2009 Sundance Festival.
- Certificate: The film was rated PG-13 for the use of sexual material and language.
- Marketing: To help promote the film, Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel starred in the debut episode of Microsoft Zune and Mean Magazine's "Cinemash" series. The director of the film, Marc Webb, created a music video as a companion piece to the film, titled "The Bank Heist". The video features Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel dancing to "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?", a song by Deschanel's folk group, She & Him.
- Release date: The film made its debut at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. It proved to be a huge success, receiving a standing ovation from the festival crowds. The Europe premiere was shown at Switzerland's opening of the 62nd Locarno Film Festival. Filmed independently, the film was picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight Pictures and opened in US and Canadian limited release on July 17th 2009, later expanding to wide release in the US on August 7th 2009. The UK and Ireland release was on September 2nd 2009, and opened in Australia on September 17th 2009.
- Reception: Based on over 200 professional reviews, it obtained a "certified fresh" seal on Rotten Tomatoes, with an approval rating of 87% and an average score of 7.6/10. At the websites year-end "Golden Tomato Awards", the film was honored with the best reviewed films of 2009 and placed 2nd in the romantic category. The film received the 2009 Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay, in addition to nominations at the 67th Golden Globe Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three and a half stars out of four. He wrote, "Boy meets girl, boy loses girl. It's been done to emo death. That's why the sublimely smart-sexy-joyful-sad (500) Days of Summer hits you like a blast of pure romantic oxygen" and concludes "(500) Days is otherwise a different kind of love story: an honest one that takes a piece out of you".
Film 4 UK independent: Kick-Ass [2010]
- Plot: Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a super-hero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.
- Budget: The films budget was $28 million. The films director and producer, Matthew Vaughn completely funded the film before Lionsgate secured domestic rights.
- Stars: Aaron Johnson, Chloe Gracë Moretz, Mark Strong and Nicolas Cage.
- Genre: Action and comedy.
- Box office: The film earned over $12 million internationally, in advance of opening in the US. On its debut weekend in the US, it took $19.8 million in 3065 theaters, averaging $6,469 per theater. The films final gross in the US was $48,071,303 and $48,117,600 outside of the US, with a worldwide gross of $96,188,903. The film was listed among the most pirated films of 2010, and was illegally downloaded over 11.4 million times, second only to blockbuster hit Avatar.
- Production: The film was distributed by Universal Pictures and Lionsgate.
- Certificate: Rated R for strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and some drug use - some involving children. The film received a 15 rating from the BBFC. Director Matthew Vaughn felt the 15 certificate was about right, and expressed some surprise at the film having received a "PG rating" in France.
- Marketing: Online marketing was paramount in the promotion of the film. Blogs and message boards were raving about the film, even before its release. In January 2010, an uncensored preview clip of the film was attacked by family advocacy groups for its display of violence, delivered by Chloë Grace Moretz, who was eleven years old at the time of filming. Several critics accused the film of glorifying violence, claiming that Hit-Girl was "made to look as seductive as possible". The use of a minor swearing and killing people reflected a negative tone to the film, with many critics debating the topic. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Red-Mist) expressed surprise that people were angry about the language, but did not seem to be offended that Hit-Girl kills many people.
- Release date: Kick-Ass was released in the UK on the 26th March 2010, and 16th April 2010 in the US. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 3rd August 2010 in North America as well as on PSP two weeks after the DVD and Blu-ray release. This version does not contain the aforementioned deleted content. Selling 1.4 million units within its first week, one-third of these in Blu-ray format, Kick-Ass debuted at number one on the DVD sales chart. The discs were released in the United Kingdom on 6 September 2010.
- Reception: Kick-Ass received mostly positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 77% approval rating with an average rating of 7.1/10 based on 243 reviews. Despite having generated some controversy for its profanity and violence performed by a child, Kick-Ass was well received by both critics and audiences. The film has gained a strong cult following since its release on DVD and Blu-ray. A sequel titled Kick-Ass 2 was released in August 2013, with Taylor-Johnson, Mintz-Plasse, and Moretz reprising their roles.
