Beautiful Creatures (2013 film)

Beautiful Creatures

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Richard LaGravenese
Produced by
Screenplay by Richard LaGravenese
Based on Beautiful Creatures 
by Kami Garcia
Margaret Stohl
Starring
Music by Thenewno2
Cinematography Philippe Rousselot
Edited by David Moritz
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • February 14, 2013 (2013-02-14)
Running time
 124 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $60 million[2]
Box office $60,052,138[2]

Beautiful Creatures is a 2013 American romantic fantasy film based upon the novel of the same name by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.[3] The film was adapted for the screen and directed by Richard LaGravenese and stars Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum, Thomas Mann, and Emma Thompson.

The film was released February 14, 2013. It received mixed reviews from critics,[4] and was a box office disappointment.[5]

Plot

In Gatlin, South Carolina, Ethan Wate awakens from a recurring dream of a girl he does not know. In voice-over narration, he describes his enjoyment of reading banned books, his despair of his small-town existence, and his dreams of leaving for college. Arriving for his first day of junior year, Ethan notices newcomer Lena Duchannes, who resembles the girl he has been dreaming about. The other students do not take kindly to her and spread gossip regarding Lena's reclusive uncle, Macon Ravenwood, and suggest that her family includes devil worshippers. Overhearing these whispers, Lena tenses, and the classroom windows shatter, amplifying the fears and suspicions of the class and the townspeople at large that she is a witch.

On a drive home, Ethan nearly runs over Lena, whose car has broken down. He gives her a ride home, and the two bond over their shared love of poetry and having both lost their mothers. Ethan drops Lena off but later finds a locket and returns to the mansion to give it to her as a present. Touching the locket triggers a shared flashback to the American Civil War, after which Ethan awakens at his home. Macon disapproves of their love and fondness of each other, and conspires with Ethan's family friend, Amma, to keep the two separated. However, Ethan continues to pursue Lena until she confesses that she and her family are "casters" capable of performing magical spells that change the weather or create illusions. On her sixteenth birthday, Lena's true nature will steer her towards either the light or the dark; Lena fears the latter, as it entails being consumed by evil and hurting those she loves. Ethan and her family insists she is responsible for her own choices and reassures her that she is a good person.

Matters are complicated by the arrival of two immensely powerful dark casters who aim to push Lena to the dark: Ridley, Lena's provocative cousin/childhood friend, and Sarafine, Lena's mother, who has possessed Mrs. Lincoln, the mother of Ethan's friend Link. Sarafine foresees that Lena will become an even more powerful caster and intends for Lena to use her newfound power to purge the Earth of humans, leaving casters to rule in their wake. Lena and Ethan use the locket to re-experience the whole flashback, which reveals their ancestors, caster Genevieve Duchannes and mortal Confederate soldier Ethan Carter Wate were in love. Ethan Carter was shot in battle, and Genevieve revived him using a forbidden spell that caused her to go dark and curse all the Duchannes family's women. They consult with Amma, who is in a seer/keeper of a caster library beneath the town library. The most ancient of these books, the Book of Moons, reveals the secret to undoing the curse: someone Lena loves has to die. Unwilling to take Ethan's life, Lena has a final moment together with Ethan in which Lena makes it snow and then erases all his memories of their time together.

Ridley seduces Link and gives him a bullet to use in an upcoming Civil War reenactment of the Battle of Honey Hill which will take place on Lena's birthday. During the reenactment, Link and Ethan agree to "kill" each other so they can ditch the reenactment. While at the ceremony for her 16th birthday, Lena feels the shock of the curse being broken and runs off to Ethan, clutching his dying body as Ridley and Sarafine encourage her to surrender to grief and accept the dark. Lena lashes out in anger, sending lightning strikes through the crowd of reenactors until Ethan transforms into Macon, who had previously disguised himself as Ethan to become the needed sacrifice. His dying words encourage Lena to "claim yourself"; she then causes the moon to disappear, so it cannot claim her for the dark. Lena allows Ridley to flee and pulls Sarafine from Mrs. Lincoln's body, using her power to seal Sarafine's spirit away.

Six months later, a still-amnesiac Ethan stops by the library to visit Amma before leaving for an NYU college tour with Link. He apologizes to Lena for not having gotten to know her during their time in Gatlin. When he inquires if a "banned book" by Charles Bukowski (which she had shared with him when they first met) is any good and Lena asks him to define good (the same reply she gave the first time he asked), Lena then presents it to him as a "getting out of Gatlin present". As Link drives away, Ethan reads a passage in the book that he had earlier associated with Lena, while Lena is revealed in the caster library to be a half light/dark caster, as one of her eyes turns a different color, just like those of her cousin. As they drive past the town line, Ethan glimpses the town's burned welcome sign and remembers everything. The car skids to a halt, Ethan gets out of the car and yells Lena's name. She hears him call, and is freed of her dark side before the screen fades to black.

Cast

Production

Alcon Entertainment purchased the rights to Beautiful Creatures in 2009, with director Richard LaGravenese signing on soon after to write and direct the movie.[8] Casting for the film began in late 2011,[9] and in February 2012, Viola Davis was cast as Amma.[10] Soon after, Jack O'Connell and Alice Englert were announced to be playing the lead characters of Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes.[11] O'Connell later dropped out of the film due to a scheduling conflict, with Alden Ehrenreich assuming the role of Ethan.[12] Further casting included Emma Thompson as Sarafine and Mrs. Lincoln and Jeremy Irons as Lena's uncle Macon Ravenwood.[13] Of the character of Lena, Englert stated that "Lena is like most girls when you feel massively insecure".[3]

Principal photography was originally scheduled to begin April 23, 2012, in New Orleans,[14] and took place, said LaGravenese, beginning "I think, April 16th, and then we shot until June 26th, and then post[-production] was for me from July 5th to December 17th."[15] LaGravenese chose to incorporate practical special effects along with computer-based ones for certain scenes, as Emmy Rossum described: "[W]hen we walked on to the stage and realized the chandelier does actually move, the chairs did actually spin, the table did actually spin... it was all very exciting."[16] On September 19, 2012, the first trailer for Beautiful Creatures was released.[17]

Camille Balsamo played Genevieve Katherine Duchannes[18] in a sequence cut from the film; LaGravenese said:

There was one part that I shot on green screen where I had all these actresses playing all the different Duchannes women from different periods [from the Civil War on]. And my costume designer, Jeffrey Kurland, had gowns and things, one was from the turn of the century, one was from the ’20s, one was from the ’40s, one was from the '60s, and they were going to appear in the first flashback and at the end of the movie, and then I cut them. ... It was just an idea that didn't work.[15]

Distribution

Release

Beautiful Creatures' release date was originally scheduled to be on February 13, 2013,[3][16] but distributor Warner Bros. later pushed the date to Thursday, February 14, 2013. The film was still released in Sweden on the 13th, a day before the film's North American release date.[19] The film held its official US premiere on February 11, 2013, in New York City.[20]

Home media

Beautiful Creatures was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on May 21, 2013.[21][22] In its first month in release, the film sold around 428,792 copies in both DVD and Blu-ray formats combined, bringing in a consumer revenue of $7,377,859. As of June 16, 2013, the film has grossed an estimated $10,337,826 in DVD and Blu-ray sales.[23]

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $10,124,912 during its opening weekend (including its Thursday release date), under-performing based on media expectations.[24][25][26]

While the film was considered to be a flop domestically, only grossing $19,452,138 by the end of its North American domestic theatrical run (against a $60 million production budget[2][5]) it did better internationally, where it has grossed $40,600,000. As of April 21, 2013, the film has grossed a worldwide total of $60,052,138,[2] barely recouping its production budget, making it a loss.[5] Variety magazine listed Beautiful Creatures as one of "Hollywood's biggest box office bombs of 2013".[6]

Critical response

The film has received mixed reviews from critics; it has a 46% rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 169 reviews, with the site's consensus stating: "Charming romantic leads and esteemed supporting cast aside, Beautiful Creatures is a plodding YA novel adaptation that feels watered down for the Twilight set".[27] On Metacritic, the film received a score of 52% based on 40 reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews.[4]

Owen Gleiberman, in Entertainment Weekly, gave the film a "B-", writing, "Beautiful Creatures is arriving in a market-place full of Twilight junkies still eager for their supernatural teen-romantic fix, and the film's concept couldn't be clearer: It's Twilight with the sexes reversed. This time it's the boy who's the mortal: moody, bookish Ethan, the outsider in his sleepy small town." Gleiberman added that though the film "is lushly pictorial and not-too-badly acted...[but] the audience, like Ethan, spends way too much time waiting around for Lena to learn whether she's a good girl or a bad girl."[28]

The film review website ScreenRant called the film "a choppy and melodramatic experience with very little payoff beyond the central love story. Worse yet, overlooking the usual on-the-nose dialogue about eternal love and sacrifice, this tale of star-crossed sweethearts is especially cheesy and unconvincing – even when compared to similarly heavy-handed young adult novel-turned-movies. Fans of the supernatural romance subgenre will get about what they expect..."[29]

David Denby of The New Yorker wrote that the movie "is a classic example of the confusions and the outright blunders that can overtake talented people who commit themselves to a concept driven purely by the movie marketplace... Alas, the satirical energy and Ethan's bright talk dissipate after a while." He praises a scene from the Civil War flashback which "appears as Ethan and Lena are watching a movie in a local theatre, but only they can see it" as "an interesting idea that I wish LaGravenese had pursued as a parallel narrative. This kind of movie, however, demands not interesting ideas but whooshing spectacle and madly redundant climaxes and a soundtrack filled with thuds and a shouting female chorus."[30]

Scott Mendelson of Forbes magazine called the film "shockingly good" and encouraged viewers who missed it to check it out on video.[31]

Cinemascore audience polls gave the film a B grade.[32]

Accolades

Award Category Nominee Result
2013 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Romance Nominated
Choice Movie Actor Romance Alden Ehrenreich Nominated
Choice Movie Actress Romance Alice Englert Nominated
Choice Movie: Sci-Fi/Fantasy Nominated
Choice Movie Breakout Alice Englert Nominated
Choice Movie Liplock Alden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert Nominated

References

  1. ↑ "Beautiful Creatures (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Beautiful Creatures". Box Office Mojo.
  3. 1 2 3 Wilkinson, Amy. "'Beautiful Creatures': Exclusive First Look at the Magical Set!". MTV. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Beautiful Creatures". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Dorothy Pomerantz, Forbes Staff (2013-08-20). "'The Mortal Instruments' Is Not The Next 'Hunger Games.' So What Is?". The film went on to earn just $60 million, about the same as it cost to make the movie. But considering only half the ticket money goes back to studio (in this case Warner Bros.), the film was a loss
  6. 1 2 3 4 Snider, Jeff (March 16, 2012). "'Beautiful Creatures' Attracts 3 Thesps". Variety. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Beautiful Creatures Times, Movie Tickets, and Theaters - Zap2it". Movies.zap2it.com. February 14, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  8. ↑ Wilkinson, Amy. "Will 'Beautiful Creatures' Movie Cast Similar Box-Office Spell As 'Harry Potter'?". MTV. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  9. ↑ Lamoureux, Jen. "Casting for ‘Beautiful Creatures’ by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl has begun". Hypable. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  10. ↑ Anderton, Ethan. "Viola Davis Lands Roles in 'Ender's Game' and 'Beautiful Creatures'". First Showing. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  11. ↑ McNary, Dave (7 February 2012). "O'Connell, Englert are WB's 'Beautiful Creatures'". Variety. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  12. ↑ Prinzivalli, Fallon. "Alden Ehrenreich To Replace Jack O'Connell In 'Beautiful Creatures'". MTV. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  13. ↑ Kay, Jancie. "Emma Thompson Joins Cast Of ‘Beautiful Creatures’". ScienceFiction.com. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  14. ↑ "Beautiful Creatures Casts Emma Thompson". Film New Orleans. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  15. 1 2 LaGravenese in Lovece, Frank (February 8, 2013). "Creature Feature: Richard LaGravenese enters the young-adult fantasy world with 'Beautiful Creatures'". Film Journal International. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  16. 1 2 Wilkinson, Amy. "Emmy Rossum Takes Us Behind The Scenes Of Swirling 'Beautiful Creatures' Set". MTV. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  17. ↑ Stecker, Joshua (September 20, 2012). "'Beautiful Creatures' Trailer Debuts, Smells Like Teenage Spirits (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  18. ↑ Rojas Weiss, Sabrina. "Beautiful Creatures Co-Star Camille Balsamo Promises Cast "Fits Their Characters To A T"". VH1. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  19. ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=beautifulcreatures13.htm
  20. ↑ Frank DiGiacomo (February 12, 2012). "‘Beautiful Creatures’ Premiere — New franchise For ‘Twilight’ Crowd?". Movieline. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Beautiful Creatures DVD release". April 23, 2013.
  22. ↑ "Beautiful Creatures Blu-ray release". April 23, 2013.
  23. ↑ http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Beautiful-Creatures-%282012%29#tab=video-sales
  24. ↑ Ray Subers (February 19, 2013). "Around-the-World Roundup: Fifth 'Die Hard' Has 'Good Day' Overseas". Box Office Mojo. Domestic disappointment
  25. ↑ Grady Smith (Feb 14). "Box office preview: 'Die Hard' gunning for No. 1 over holiday weekend". Inside Movies | EW.com. Time Inc. Retrieved September 28, 2013. Beautiful Creatures will likely have to settle for rather ugly $15 million four-day weekend Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ↑ Ray Subers (February 14, 2013). "Forecast: Fifth 'Die Hard' Should Blow Up Presidents Weekend". Box Office Mojo. ... all had four-day starts north of $20 million, which is a reasonable expectation for Beautiful Creatures.
  27. ↑ Beautiful Creatures at Rotten Tomatoes
  28. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (February 22, 2013). "Beautiful Creatures". Entertainment Weekly (New York: Time Inc.): 59.
  29. ↑ Kendrick, Ben (February 2013). "Beautiful Creatures Review". Screenrant.com. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  30. ↑ Denby, David (March 4, 2013). "Dangerous Liaisons". The New Yorker 89 (3): 80–81.
  31. ↑ Scott Mendelson (2013-08-24). "'The Butler' Tops Again, 'The Mortal Instruments' Bombs". Forbes.
  32. ↑ Smith, Grady (February 17, 2013). "Movies Box office report: 'Die Hard' holds off 'Safe Haven' with $25 million; 'Beautiful Creatures' has ugly debut". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 18, 2014.

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